Image Source: TSMC
The goal of Huawei, as well as companies such as CXMT, SMIC and QXIC, is not only to attract qualified specialists, but also to gain access to trade secrets, which would significantly speed up and reduce the cost of their own research and development. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer with process technologies that are significantly more competitive than those offered by others in the industry in terms of performance, power, transistor density and yield.
TSMC uses a variety of methods to protect its intellectual property, including strict project segregation to ensure that no one employee has broad access to sensitive data.
Taiwan’s Bureau of Justice Investigation has stepped up scrutiny of firms that sometimes pose as data analytics firms to recruit local semiconductor talent, as well as those that misrepresent the jobs they hire for while offering substantial compensation to those who is ready to join them.
Proposals from such firms are reportedly not met with enthusiasm, since once someone leaves a large American or Taiwanese company to work for one of these Chinese enterprises, they are unlikely to return. One of the Taiwanese company’s employees interviewed by Le Monde said she never responded to recruiters acting on behalf of Huawei.