As job opportunities are beginning to bloom this year as the economy takes off, a job-tracking and career-consulting firm said yesterday that it is employers' turn to keep their fingers crossed, as it is the perfect time for employees to switch jobs.
"Employees can finally fire their bosses," Kevin Zang (
Citing an online survey conducted by the company from Dec. 10 to Dec. 22 last year among 1,392 employees, Zang said 51.08 percent of the polled said now was a good time to land a new job, while 41.64 percent said they have already started exploring their options with other companies.
High-tech industries such as the optoelectronics and semiconductor sectors, as well as banking, tourism, real estate and the construction business, will benefit most from the booming economy, and therefore will need more staff, the report said.
The world's two largest chipmakers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
On Tuesday, World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) said global sales of semiconductors surged to US$16.1 billion in November, rising 25.7 percent from a year ago and accelerating for the fourth straight month. WSTS is a non-profit organization representing close to 90 percent of the world semiconductor industry.
The up-and-coming optoelectronics sector has been siphoning off a considerable number of IC talents from semiconductor manufacturers, creating a dearth of available talent, Zang said.
In the finance sector, new blood specializing in consumer banking, finance management and marketing will gradually replace traditional bank staffers who only have experience with daily banking affairs and errands, Zang said.
The real estate sector, which showed strong signs of recovery thanks to improved consumer confidence and low interest rates, is eagerly acquiring more brokers.
"The real estate market has also been extremely hot since the third quarter of last year, so much so that one real estate company even declared that it would award a 50-month salary as a year-end bonus to the company's staff," Zang said.
The go-west fever that cooled during the SARS outbreak will continue to rise, as the local service sector shows interest in exploiting the huge Chinese market, he added. China will open its service sector to foreign investors next year in line with its WTO accession commitments.
Despite the bright outlook for the domestic job market, employees should avoid unscrupulously jumping from job to job. Zang said many enterprises have more strict hiring qualifications now, such as requiring job applicants to have a graudate degree instead of just an undergraduate degree, as the number of advanced-education graduates has grown significantly over the past few years.
The number of students enrolling in the nation's graduate schools has gradrupled to 120,000 since 1995, he added.
Job seekers with foreign language skills -- especially Japanese as a result of the growing number of Japanese high-tech companies doing business in Taiwan -- is particularly welcome.
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