Taiwan’s top two chipmakers plan to hire over 10,000 engineers in 2022 to bolster their aggressive expansion plans and maintain their technological edge, Financial Times reports. 

• Leading contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (NYSE:TSM) aims to hire about 8,000 engineers in 2022, similar to last year. 
• TSM is amidst its most significant expansion, with facilities being built and scaled up in Taiwan, the U.S., Japan, and China. 
• TSM looks to spend up to $44 billion in 2022 to ramp up production capacity to tap the growing demand for artificial intelligence and 5G-powered applications chips. 
• MediaTek Inc (OTC:MDTKF), the leading mobile chip developer by shipments, aims to hire over 2,000 people in 2022. 
• The report adds that MediaTek, which recently surpassed U.S. mobile chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) in the premium 5G market, hired over 2,000 engineers in 2021. 
• MediaTek aims to hire mainly in Taiwan. However, it will add a substantial number of employees in India. 
• MediaTek spent ~NT$100 billion ($3.6 billion) on R&D in 2021 and hiked the 2022 budget by 10% - 20%. 
• European chip equipment maker ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) looks to hire ~1,000 people in Taiwan in 2022 after hiring 1,400 in 2021.
• Leading chip material makers Merck KGaA (OTC:MKKGY) and Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG) are building new production facilities in Taiwan and planning to hire more people locally in 2022. 
• Price Action: TSM shares traded lower by 0.09% at $124.42 in the premarket session on the last check Monday.