from Hacker News

Women who make Samsung semiconductors are striking

by eric__cartman on 7/15/24, 4:41 PM with 197 comments

• by abdullahkhalids on 7/15/24, 5:03 PM

  > Samsung’s 12-inch line utilizes an overhead hoist transport (OHT) system, an automated transport network that operates along tracks installed on the ceiling, to move bundles of 25 wafers called “lots.” On the 8-inch line, however, this transportation is done manually. There is much more market demand for 12-inch wafers, so Samsung has modernized and automated many processes. The 8-inch line, however, is outdated.

  While abuse of assembly line workers has always happened, as factories become increasingly automated,

  1. Some workers lose their jobs to automation.

  2. The remaining ones have a weaker negotiation power, as their jobs are on the way out anyway. So companies have even more incentive to abuse them.

• by wormlord on 7/15/24, 6:26 PM

  Samsung is the only job interview I have walked out of. I was told "you'll basically have zero wlb for the first 2-3 years while we are getting this fab off the ground". I immediately said I was withdrawing my candidacy. I can't imagine what the floor workers jobs are like if that's how demanding the SWE side is.

  It's especially soul-crushing when you think what the next Xnm process translates to in the real-world. Incrementally better performance for encoding cat videos or whatever. No thanks.

• by marcodiego on 7/15/24, 5:40 PM

  I worked for a giant Korean company (offshore, third party outsource). Their view of workers right is very different from "the west". It was said, among my colleagues at the time, that in our country their main headquarters had a law office exclusively to handle abuse cases quickly. I heard stories of Korean lifting their voices and a case where the chair of a programmer was kicked by a Korean manager because he let a bug pass.

  AFAIK, this is actually part of their culture. They are very strict about hierarchy and it is seen as a kind of honor that is ingrained even in their language. There's even a case where this resulted in an air disaster.

  I really hope that the current trend of culture interchange between Korea an "the west" may influence both societies for the better.

• by SiempreViernes on 7/15/24, 5:43 PM

  > “When someone is exempt from overtime due to a pregnancy, they don’t send anyone in their place, which means those of us left on the line just have to do more work,” said Worker A.

  > “Technically, we get an hour for lunch, but the machinery never stops operating, so someone has to fill that spot at all times,” Worker A added.

  Samsung being the successful company that it is, I can't imagine they don't know that they don't understanding that taking people out of a work team requires putting in a replacement, so I'll take "Malicious compliance with work safety" for 500 Alex.

• by vondur on 7/15/24, 5:53 PM

  I rarely hear positive stories about the work conditions and culture in Korea.

• by colordrops on 7/15/24, 5:04 PM

  My brother had back surgery in Scottsdale, and his roommate was getting surgery to repair his pinky, which was destroyed in a welding incident in the Samsung plant being built in the area. Made me wonder about the safety of the workers there.

• by eric__cartman on 7/15/24, 4:41 PM

  I had to slightly rewrite the title to get it to fit within the 90 character limit.

• by Kalanos on 7/15/24, 5:57 PM

  To the employer: rotate them into different roles to prevent this kind of stress on the body/mind.

  To the employee: find a new job if you can get the above

• by wtcactus on 7/16/24, 1:10 PM

  Why only the women? Aren’t men working in the same conditions?

  I’ve read the article, but it doesn’t explain why the disparity between sexes.

• by hbogert on 7/15/24, 8:20 PM

  This is one of the reasons I'm pessimistic that intel will regain the Fab crown. How can you compete with this?

• by m3kw9 on 7/15/24, 7:44 PM

  Humans shouldn’t be doing this type of work or most industrial line work, robots can do it easily 24/7

• by fuzzfactor on 7/15/24, 9:43 PM

  >Women who make Samsung semiconductors are striking

  I would say they're quite photogenic myself ;)

  One of the original advantages of semiconductors over vacuum tubes is that they were built to last.

  Tubes were expected to eventually wear out and be replaced sooner or later, sometimes on a regular basis. So they came in sockets and many were very easily user-replaceable.

  Other than that, the equipment was usually built to last for decades. It would have been the stupidest thing in the world to get a new radio every 5 or 10 years when all it needed was a new tube or two. And once you had a radio that was satisfying, most people never wanted to buy another radio again. They most often went forward focused on additional types of long-term technology acquisitions, like TV sets and an automobiles with automatic transmission.

  Semiconductors made almost all tube equipment obsolete as fast as the expanding variety of devices could be developed, so silicon booms are nothing new. Corresponding bust cycles must also have been endured by semiconductor companies who have prospered over the decades.

  The demand for semiconductors is real strong again, especially the more complex and innovative developments.

  But as time goes by, the demand for the semiconductors needed to produce products having long-term value is not the demand causing the complaints about overwork.

  It's the extreme demand for disposable semiconductors, and the manufactured-for-landfill products that incorporate them, which has been gradually putting more pressure on fabrication workers in the same production facilities where it didn't used to be this bad.

• by fortran77 on 7/15/24, 7:14 PM

  I completely misunderstood the title, and wondered before I clicked how it could possibly have reached the front page.