You hint at it in the paragraph on education status and fertility for men being correlated, but otherwise don't discuss: how male does TSMC's workforce skew?
I.e. is the stunningly high fertility the result of TSMC finally finding the right combination of childcare provision and family support for working mums, where every other organisation and country that's attempted to move the needle in that regard has essentially failed, or is it that top-tier engineers working Asian hours at an incredibly prestigious, globally significant high-tech manufacturer are (overwhelmingly male and) productive enough that their remuneration package includes 'wife and kids provided for, in a company town full of young families'?
I may be wrong, but it seems the scalability of their solution may depend on the answer to that question.
Update because I was curious - their 2019 CSR report is linked below. On slide 3, it shows c.38% of the overall workforce is female, and 12% of management. 80% of those categorised as managers, professionals or 'assistant engineer/clerical' are male, which categories account for 2/3 of the total workforce. Interestingly, the ratio is reversed for the remainder, who are technicians i.e. those actually assembling components on production lines. The report notes that this segment of the workforce is expected to decline as production lines become increasingly automated:
I admit, that's more female than I expected. Hence the emphasis on childcare and preschool I suppose - manufacturing semiconductor chips is not something I imagine you pick up in a few hours, and if you have a near-monopoly position on the production of a component everyone in the world desperately wants you can afford to spend what it costs to get highly-trained women back on the factory floor.
That is indeed interesting data! I agree that the point you make in your first comment is a very relevant one. The case of TSMC has made me very interested in how/where/if this fertility variation manifests in other companies, particularly American ones. That may yield part of the answer if that information is out there.
Do you have the data to break apart the wealth effect from the peer effect? For example, how does TSMC fertility compare to other industries or families with similar wages in Taiwan without the peer effect? Do all high earners in Taiwan have lots of kids? Do all fab companies?
Also, is there an attraction effect? If I am a bright young chip engineer, and I know I want to have kids, do I choose TSMC over some other company because I know TSMC has great childcare and a community?
You hint at it in the paragraph on education status and fertility for men being correlated, but otherwise don't discuss: how male does TSMC's workforce skew?
I.e. is the stunningly high fertility the result of TSMC finally finding the right combination of childcare provision and family support for working mums, where every other organisation and country that's attempted to move the needle in that regard has essentially failed, or is it that top-tier engineers working Asian hours at an incredibly prestigious, globally significant high-tech manufacturer are (overwhelmingly male and) productive enough that their remuneration package includes 'wife and kids provided for, in a company town full of young families'?
I may be wrong, but it seems the scalability of their solution may depend on the answer to that question.
Update because I was curious - their 2019 CSR report is linked below. On slide 3, it shows c.38% of the overall workforce is female, and 12% of management. 80% of those categorised as managers, professionals or 'assistant engineer/clerical' are male, which categories account for 2/3 of the total workforce. Interestingly, the ratio is reversed for the remainder, who are technicians i.e. those actually assembling components on production lines. The report notes that this segment of the workforce is expected to decline as production lines become increasingly automated:
https://esg.tsmc.com/download/file/2019-csr-report/english/pdf/e-7-issue-1.pdf
I admit, that's more female than I expected. Hence the emphasis on childcare and preschool I suppose - manufacturing semiconductor chips is not something I imagine you pick up in a few hours, and if you have a near-monopoly position on the production of a component everyone in the world desperately wants you can afford to spend what it costs to get highly-trained women back on the factory floor.
That is indeed interesting data! I agree that the point you make in your first comment is a very relevant one. The case of TSMC has made me very interested in how/where/if this fertility variation manifests in other companies, particularly American ones. That may yield part of the answer if that information is out there.
Do you have the data to break apart the wealth effect from the peer effect? For example, how does TSMC fertility compare to other industries or families with similar wages in Taiwan without the peer effect? Do all high earners in Taiwan have lots of kids? Do all fab companies?
Also, is there an attraction effect? If I am a bright young chip engineer, and I know I want to have kids, do I choose TSMC over some other company because I know TSMC has great childcare and a community?