Taiwan running low on engineers

Workers exit the TSMC factory in Tainan, Taiwan. The company’s employee count has grown almost 70% over the past decade, while Taiwan’s birthrate has plummeted by half. — The New York Times

ENGINEERS like Royale Lee, 31, are one reason Taiwan is the world’s biggest contract producer of the microchips that power almost all electronics.

When a computer virus paralysed machinery at his employer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Lee pulled a 48-hour shift to help fix the problem.