TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) Chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) had a blunt message for the company’s U.S. employees dissatisfied with the Taiwan semiconductor giant’s “brutal” workplace culture: “those who are unwilling to be on duty should not be in this industry.”

“This industry does not depend on high salaries, but on (employees) having genuine interest in working in the industry,” Liu said, speaking after a shareholder’s meeting on Tuesday (June 6), per CNA. Liu was responding to questions following an article published in Fortune that outlined TSMC’s U.S. employees’ dissatisfaction with the company’s working conditions.

“TSMC is about obedience (and is) not ready for America,” the article quoted one employee as saying. “Twelve-hour days are standard, weekend shifts are common. I cannot stress…how brutal the work-life balance is here,” another American TSMC employee said.

In February, Taiwanese TSMC employees expressed concerns that their American counterparts would not be able to keep up, and said that they worried the Taiwanese working style might clash with American employees. The concerns arose as the company continued with plans for a US$40 billion (NT$1.21 trillion) investment in production facilities in Arizona.

Liu said that it is not required that U.S. and Taiwanese employees of TSMC do things in the same way. However, he said what is required is for employees to abide by the company’s core values of integrity, keeping promises, innovation, and maintaining customer trust.

A former TSMC engineer commenting on the company’s U.S. plans said he had opted not to join the venture after realizing he would have to make up for his American colleagues’ lack of productivity.

Multiple studies from different countries challenge the idea that the number of hours worked is related to productivity, but no studies have been carried out on the semiconductor industry specifically. However, overwork is recognized by the WHO as increasing the risk of death from heart disease by 42% and stroke by 19%.

TSMC's first Phoenix fab is currently under construction and is expected to be ready for commercial production in 2024 and will manufacture 4nm chips. After the completion of the first facility, the Taiwanese chipmaker will begin construction on a more advanced 3nm fab.