TSMC CEO: Talent Shortage Is the Biggest Constraint, Water Resource Issues Need Government Solutions
Taylor Wilson
TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said at a new park inauguration in Pingtung that the company's biggest gap is talent, not water, power, or land — a signal that Taiwan's chip bottleneck has shifted from physical infrastructure to people.
Among all the shortages, which one tops the list?
Wei ranked the priorities clearly: talent comes first; land, water, and power fall behind.
This means → Taiwan's long-running "five shortages" debate (water, power, labor, land, talent) has been re-ordered by the head of its most important company — the hardest gap to fill is not a physical resource but people.
He specifically called for stronger training programs and urged efforts to retain workers in remote areas like Pingtung, rather than losing them to northern cities.
Who is responsible for the water problem?
Wei admitted he was still worrying last month about whether TSMC would need to truck in water — not a hypothetical, but a recent concern.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te responded on the spot: the government is advancing a nationwide reservoir interconnection plan, nearly finalized, with the core challenge in storage, allocation, and efficient use.
In plain terms = Taiwan's reservoirs have operated independently; linking them creates a unified dispatch system — when the south runs dry, water can flow from elsewhere. Wei's own words: "If that happens, I won't need to talk about land, water, or power shortages anymore."
Where does the water anxiety come from?
In 2021 Taiwan hit its worst drought on record, triggering island-wide water rationing that put semiconductor production lines at risk.
Water security has been a sensitive issue for the chip industry ever since — southern reservoirs typically drop in winter, and only last week's heavy rains offered some relief.
This reflects a reality: a single drought can threaten output of the world's most advanced chips.
How will foreign talent be brought in?
Lai added the government's own move: streamlining work-permit applications for foreign professionals, aiming to lower barriers and speed up approvals.
This means → Taiwan acknowledges that domestic talent alone cannot keep pace; it must recruit globally to sustain the chip industry's expansion.
Will TSMC's capacity move abroad?
TSMC is investing $165 billion in wafer fabs (chip manufacturing plants) in Arizona — a massive commitment.
Yet Wei reiterated: the vast majority of capacity and R&D will stay in Taiwan. "Taiwan will always be the most important place," he said.
In plain terms = the U.S. fabs spread risk and satisfy client demands, but TSMC's "brain and heart" are not relocating — provided the talent pipeline holds.
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