C.C. Wei, the chief executive of TSMC, has expressed concerns about the future talent pipeline for chip production, as well as the availability of water for manufacturing according to a report by Reuters.
Wei spoke at an opening ceremony for a new science park, telling Taiwanese television news that he had considered bringing in water trucks to maintain the supply of water critical to the production of advanced semiconductors, adding that his main concern for the moment was a lack of skills.
“We may face shortages, but what we still lack most is talent,” Wei said, calling for more work to be done providing rural workers with advanced skills.
Lai Ching-te, the president of Taiwan, acknowledged Wei’s fears over water and said the Taiwanese government is working to attract foreign talent to work on semiconductors.
“Our problem is how to retain water, how to distribute water, and how to use water efficiently,” Lai said, promising to link reservoirs into a unified water pipeline that the government says will provide a more resilient water supply.
TSMC accounts for over 90 per cent of the world’s advanced semiconductor output and uses vast amounts of water in the process.
In 2024, S&P Global analysis found that TSMC would use a projected 7,263 litres of water per wafer and that the firm’s demand for feedwater could rise 40 to 100 per cent by 2030 compared to 2022 levels. In that year, the analysis concluded that TSMC used 104.6 million metric tons of water, or 104.6 billion litres.
Earlier this month, Wei acknowledged surging demand for chips and said his firm was working to meet this without raising its prices too sharply.
“We are doing our best to ensure TSMC does not become a bottleneck,” he said at the time.
In 2025, TSMC committed a further $100 billion to plans to broaden its US manufacturing base, bringing its total US investment to $165 billion by the end of the decade.
But while the firm is expanding its site in Arizona and says it will support more domestic supply for firms such as Nvidia and Apple, the bulk of its operations will remain in Taiwan.
Nvidia has acknowledged this, with its chief executive Jensen Huang having pledged up to $150 billion per year for Taiwan on 26 May.
