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by rkagerer 606 days ago
These two (distinct from each other) articles are found down the rabbit hole of links from the one posted:

https://archive.ph/D0xQr

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/tsmcs-labor-pract...

They discuss the culture clash between Taiwanese managers brought in to oversee rampup of the US fab vs. local hires - with different expectations in working hours / availability, role flexibility and tolerance of mistakes - to the point where some of the latter are quitting with allegations of workplace abuse.

I'm curious if either of those have already been discussed on HN, and whether anyone here worked there and have shared their views.

I'm really curious whether cultures seen as having a more "hardcore" work ethic (be it other countries, or startups and certain corporations like SpaceX within our own) correlate with more successful results, and whether the 4% result in this article counters that idea.
1 comments
lazide 606 days ago
Expectations of engineers and managers in Asia (especially hard engineering) is an order of magnitude higher than in the US - in good and in bad ways, depending on who you are asking.

One thing is non-controversial though, work life balance is just not a thing for for engineers or engineering managers in Taiwan. or most other places.

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brutus1213 606 days ago
Asian companies in North America behave the same. Don't seem to give a crap about employees or lives. My jaw continues to drop at what I come across.

It goes both ways. I am a non-asian manager but my asian employees don't seem to say no to unreasonable request. I've actually had to talk to some of the younger employees about burnout.

I don't understand why it is okay for anyone .. employees or managers to be tortured.

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rkagerer 606 days ago
What are some of the unreasonable requests you've observed (or made)?

Have you seen burnout arise solely from "too many hours worked", or has it tended to be coupled with other factors (like lack of control / agency, goalposts that keep moving such that they never get achieved, coworker disagreements, toxic office politics).

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lazide 606 days ago
It’s not about ‘ok’, it’s about what they can get away with.

And in Asia, there are too many people ‘to worry’ about burning just one of them out.

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