The US sanctions have begun to have an effect on China and are limiting the talent pool.
Apple has decided that cheap Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC), memory chips in iPhones is too dangerous. Now, the Chinese company wants American workers to leave.
According to the Financial Times (Opens in a new tab), all American core tech employees at YMTC have been forced to quit. According to an insider, the company is asking staff to quit. This is both necessary and the best move for their personal safety.
The US-imposed sanctions that restricted China’s access technology meant that YMTC had to fire American employees. Simon Yang, a chief executive at YMTC and holder of a US passport decided last month to resign to take over as YMTC’s deputy chairman. It is not clear if he will be forced to resign.
YMTC currently appears on the US government’s Unverified List. While it isn’t considered a threat, it could be moved to an Entity List (export blocklist) in the near future. This company is facing the same problem as every other chip company in China: to build manufacturing facilities that aren’t dependent on US technology and to staff them with people without US passports.
A Shanghai industry headhunter claims that these restrictions have “halved” the number of candidates available for top positions in chipmakers or toolmakers. It is possible to fill American roles, but it requires that the US Commerce Department first issue a license. This seems unlikely.
