Taiwanese authorities accuse SMIC and allies of poaching engineers

SMIC
(Image credit: SMIC)

Taiwan is investigating whether Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China's largest contract chipmaker and the world's third largest foundry, broke local laws by secretly recruiting engineers to get experienced staff and gain insights of Taiwanese semiconductor know how, reports Bloomberg. The investigation is part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized activities by Chinese tech companies in Taiwan, notes Nikkei.

Taiwanese authorities raided 34 different locations in six cities between March 18 and March 28. Officials from the Ministry of Justice examined operations linked to 11 Chinese companies and interviewed over 90 people in connection with suspected breaches of local laws concerning talent poaching by Chinese companies. Most of the companies under investigation are involved in the semiconductor sector. Officials said this operation had been in the planning stages since December.

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Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • bigdragon
    Having your employees "poached" tells me your company wasn't compensating them right. Working hours, pay, time off, and working environments are all part of the equation here. The engineers have every right to seek greener pastures as the executives do. Taiwan should investigate the companies losing these engineers.
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  • Notton
    Yeah, talent poaching has been around since the industrial revolution (1760's).
    There was enough time between then and now to figure out how to prevent it.
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  • phead128
    Given how backwards China is, that's really on you to lose talent to there.
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  • pyao88
    When companies steal trade secrets from rival firms it's cheaper to pay 3x above market.
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  • FR33L35T3R
    If Taiwanese companies had paid their employees fairly and offered more attractive working conditions, perhaps there would be less of a talent exodus. It’s not an excuse for illegal recruitment, but it helps explain that decent salaries and a supportive environment are often the best defenses against this kind of behavior.
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  • pyao88
    TSMC jobs are amongst the highest paid positions in Taiwan. The story is it does come with long hours. Many knows that already before they applied for the position.

    It would need the government to specify the job/trade secret as national security and disallow TSMC employees from working for a country Taiwan is defending from.

    Military personnel are offered money to disclose military secrets. There would always be higher payouts to exceed the regular pay as long as they got the secrets rival is looking for.

    Discounting illegal recruitment, Silicon Valley employees jump ship from $300k salary to $400k salary. Lack of salary isn't a concern there.
    Reply