At the Phoenix semiconductor facility, Taiwanese and American employees exchange traditions through annual festivals and everyday food sharing
At TSMC Arizona’s 1,100-acre campus in north Phoenix, cultural exchange happens one snack at a time. Employees maintain desk drawers stocked with Taiwanese cookies. Engineers bring home-cooked dishes to share with colleagues. The annual Lunar New Year celebration brings together thousands of workers and their families.
These customs reflect a deliberate effort by the world’s largest contract chipmaker to build workplace cohesion at its first advanced U.S. manufacturing site. With more than 3,000 employees working at the Phoenix facility and hiring ongoing to reach 6,000, TSMC has turned food and cultural festivals into tools for bridging traditions across its cross-cultural workforce.
Cultural Celebrations Anchor the Calendar
TSMC Arizona’s approach to multicultural celebration extends beyond one-off events. The company celebrates diversity and inclusion through structured initiatives under its Global Family @TSMC Employee Resource Group, which hosts “Multicultural Appreciation and Experience” events throughout the year. Employees from different countries create videos introducing their traditional festivals and set up booths to share local cuisine, clothing, and culture with colleagues.
“Employees get together for the holidays, such as Lunar New Year, and eat Taiwanese food at the company’s cafeteria,” said Mark Toro, a 21-year-old TSMC Arizona technician, in an interview with local Arizona media.
The 2025 Double Ten Festival, celebrating Taiwan’s National Day, drew more than 1,000 TSMC employees and their families to Arizona State University. TSMC Arizona sponsored a drone show featuring 150 illuminated drones that painted the night sky with Taiwan’s flag and cultural symbols. The celebration included Taiwanese delicacies, a night market with craft vendors, and performances honoring Taiwan’s heritage.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego spoke at the event about the bond between Phoenix and Taiwan: “Our friends from Taiwan will feel at home, and those who are only just learning about Taiwan feel as moved as I do.”
Lunar New Year Traditions in the Workplace
The Lunar New Year holds particular significance for TSMC Arizona’s Taiwanese workforce, and the celebration has become an annual tradition at the facility. The 2026 observance, which falls on February 17 and marks the Year of the Fire Horse, will continue workplace traditions that have taken root since TSMC began operations in Arizona.
TSMC globally hosts Multicultural Appreciation events that have attracted over 6,000 participants across its Employee Resource Groups. Global Family@tsmc has enhanced multicultural celebrations by introducing cultural booths and featuring colleagues sharing customs from their home countries.
The Phoenix area offers multiple public Lunar New Year festivals where TSMC employees and their families can celebrate. The 36th Annual Phoenix Chinese Week will take place February 14 and 15, 2026, at Heritage Square. Presented by Phoenix Chinese Week and Phoenix Sister Cities, the free festival includes dragon and lion dances, folk performances, and authentic Asian cuisine.
The Phoenix Food Fair: Lunar New Year Edition will bring festivities to Kiwanis Park in Tempe on January 24 and 25, 2026. The event features a dragon parade, lantern release, and a Blessing Bridge ceremony. Organizer Jane Ho described the significance for the Asian community: “As an Asian living in America, it’s hard to find your roots and hard to connect with home.”
Food as a Bridge Between Cultures
At TSMC Arizona, food has emerged as an organic catalyst for workplace integration. The practice of sharing snacks and meals between Taiwanese and American colleagues has become embedded in daily operations.
“Food has emerged as an unexpected catalyst for workplace integration at TSMC Arizona,” according to a November 2025 profile of the company’s apprenticeship program. Nolan Cottingham, a 23-year-old process technician apprentice, maintains a drawer filled with Taiwanese cookies, reciprocating when colleagues share traditional snacks. He orders donuts for the early morning shift and occasionally brings In-N-Out burgers for Taiwanese colleagues.
“One of our engineers, he sometimes cooks, and he’ll bring over whatever food he cooked and have us try it,” Cottingham said in the interview. These exchanges facilitate communication across cultural boundaries.
Jefferson Patz, one of TSMC Arizona’s first American hires in 2021, described similar traditions in an internal interview. “There’s a snack box in our cube, and we have afternoon tea as well,” he said. “This culture of bringing local snacks to everyone on your team and sharing them” helps build relationships across cultural lines.
The practice extends to company-wide events. TSMC’s fabs feature cafeterias offering diverse Asian cuisine, including Taiwanese, Hakka, Cantonese, Japanese, and Southeast Asian options. This variety reflects the company’s global workforce and provides daily opportunities for culinary exploration.
Building a One Team Culture
TSMC Arizona has formally acknowledged the role of cultural integration in building what company leadership calls a “one team” culture. Rose Castanares, president of TSMC Arizona, has emphasized the company’s approach to melding cultures at its Phoenix facility.
“This is our first manufacturing operation in the U.S. and our first leading-edge site outside of Taiwan, and we’re very proud of how far we’ve come in a few short years,” Castanares said in a statement to Arizona media. “We expected that there would be challenges and differences in opinions and communication styles as we brought cultures together. Our priority has always been to build a ‘one team’ TSMC culture. We’ve focused on communication, manager training, fostering interpersonal and team relationships, and listening and learning.”
The company’s Global Inclusive Workplace Statement formalizes its commitment to creating a workplace “that fosters collaboration among employees from varied cultural backgrounds, professional domains, and life experiences.”
TSMC launched its DEI Statement in 2024 with activities under the theme “Bringing New DEI Statement to Life.” Senior Vice President of Human Resources Lora Ho stated: “TSMC believes that a diverse workforce enables the Company to grow and deliver the world’s most advanced and innovative technologies, creating a better future and enhancing societal well-being.”
Potlucks and Team Gatherings
The potluck tradition at TSMC Arizona draws on a shared characteristic among the facility’s engineers and technicians. As Patz observed, process engineers share a common hobby: optimizing recipes.
“There’s a commonality between process engineers,” Patz said. “We like to optimize things. If you ask a process engineer in the semiconductor industry, eventually you’re going to find out what they’re trying to optimize in their life. And 90% of the time, it’s food.”
This inclination toward recipe perfection surfaces at team potlucks. “You end up with some really good food when you have a potluck,” Patz explained. “Everyone comes with, ‘I’ve been doing this for 10 years. This is my perfect steak recipe.”
The observation reflects how technical precision translates into culinary enthusiasm. “I think it’s that kind of attitude at TSMC, which is like finding the customer who is going to come next,” he said of the company’s culture of continuous improvement. For engineers spending their days optimizing semiconductor fabrication processes, applying that same methodology to cooking creates unexpected common ground.
Cultural Infrastructure
TSMC Arizona has invested in physical infrastructure supporting cultural exchange. The facility’s cafeteria stocks fresh food around the clock to accommodate all shifts at the 24/7 operation. The company’s micro-market provides “a variety of fresh food and is open 24/7 to ensure all shifts are covered.”
The annual TSMC Family Day brings employees and their families together for what the company describes as a day of fun, celebration, and connection. These events reinforce the integration of work and personal life that characterizes TSMC’s approach to employee engagement.
TSMC has expanded its Employee Resource Groups to strengthen support for diverse groups. In November 2024, the company launched Veterans@tsmc in the United States, joining existing groups including Women@tsmc, Global Family@tsmc, Accessibility@tsmc, and Pride@tsmc. These ERGs organize events attracting thousands of participants and help employees connect across departmental and cultural boundaries.
Looking Ahead
As TSMC Arizona approaches full operation of its first fab and continues construction on its second and third facilities, cultural integration remains central to workforce development. The company plans to hire thousands of additional technicians and engineers through programs including its Registered Apprenticeship initiative.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has framed these workforce investments as evidence of successful state-industry alignment. “The semiconductor industry has created opportunities for countless Arizonans to gain access to good-paying, stable jobs,” Hobbs said. “Today, we are making that opportunity more accessible by creating new pathways into this growing, high-tech sector through robust new apprenticeship programs.”
The cultural practices taking root at TSMC Arizona suggest that these new workers will enter a workplace where sharing a meal remains one of the most effective ways to learn from colleagues.
