Construction trades at the Phoenix and Chandler fab
TSMC Arizona has used a union labor framework since December 2023, and its site workforce has run into the thousands.
~12,000Workers on the project, later report
3,000Trades-council members on site
People at the TSMC Arizona site
Construction workforce, later report
about 12,000
2022 TSMC announcement
10,000+
Trades-council members on site
about 3,000
Full-time TSMC employees
about 2,200
Different years and sources.
Who is building
- In December 2023, TSMC Arizona and the Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council agreed a framework on training, safety, communication and site staffing.
- The council had about 3,000 members on site, roughly a quarter of the construction workforce. A later report put the total near 12,000 workers. TSMC’s 2022 announcement cited more than 10,000.
- About 2,200 full-time TSMC employees work at the complex, on top of construction workers.
- TSMC said circumstances may require it to bring in foreign workers with specialized experience, and a trade union opposed that plan.
What it means
Fab construction pulls in electricians, pipefitters, millwrights, welders and laborers. Counts below move fast and come from mixed sources, so read them as a picture of scale, not a headcount.
Not covered: a 2026 headcount, apprenticeship intake dates and wages. We found no 2026 figure.