Former TSMC Engineer’s Resignation Story Fuels Debate as AI Boom Lifts Pay and Investment Returns

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s leading contract chipmaker, has seen its business, employee compensation and share price boosted by demand for AI chips. The high rewards also come with long hours and intense pressure. A former engineer who resigned because of the physical and mental toll wrote on Dcard that TSMC’s continued growth had left them struggling with FOMO, sparking debate over career trade-offs.

The resignation account has recently drawn widespread attention online. One commenter warned that “if you don’t come down the mountain, you may not make it at all,” urging the former engineer to put health first, while others discussed the cost of missing out on high pay and gains in employee shareholdings. Driven by the AI boom, TSMC’s average employee pay and share price both reached record highs in 2025. However, the available headline and event information does not specify the post’s publication date, salary figures or the share-price peak.