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Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp has asked American employees in core tech positions to leave, as it rushes to comply with new US export controls that are disrupting the country’s chip industry.
Four people close to the company said it was unclear how many US citizens and green card holders would be forced to leave YMTC, but that several in China had already left the memory chip producer.
A senior YMTC engineer said some of the Americans were key to the company’s breakthroughs on Nand memory chip production. “But there’s no other way around [them leaving],” the person added.
Lawyers say the US commerce department is unlikely to hand out licences to bypass the rules.
“You either give up your citizenship or quit your job,” said one Chinese semiconductor executive.
When these talents leave, their departures
WILL be noted. Headhunters will come with varieties of generous employment offers. Each of these 'key' people will take their time selecting where they will settle next. The company will not feel their loss for some time as whatever technical contributions they made are still making progress thru the company's current product lines and policies. However, as with technical advancements, each have a limited shelf life and new ones must come to be replacements, and this is where the company want to retain talented people to continue creating new advancements. We are not looking at just managers and visionaries but also high level engineers whose technical skills are always sought after. Now, YMTC is facing loss of talents unexpectedly and most likely will never see them again as these people found steady employments elsewhere.