Job market picking up

Following the revival of the local job market with the advent of the Year of the Monkey, a job-tracking and career-consulting firm yesterday suggested employers had better start snatching up employees, especially the service sector that is enjoying an overwhelming expansion.

"This is a good year for employees," Kevin Zang (臧聲遠), chief editor of the Chinese-language magazine Career Consulting (就業情報), told a press conference yesterday.

"I think employers, especially in the service sector, better start hiring as soon as possible before demand gets tighter in the second quarter," Zang said.

The unemployment rate held at a two-year low of 4.7 percent in December, reducing the number of people out of work from 477,000 in November to 465,000.

The demand for employees this month has surged 3.2 fold from last month, according to the databases of the 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) released on Monday.

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation's largest maker of flat-panel displays, is planning to hold three job fairs this month, aiming to recruit 1,500 engineers for its expanded operation, the company said on Wednesday.

In addition to a continuing shortage of high-tech design and management people, companies' search for talents has extended to lower-level staffers, Zang said.

For example, some factories have promised salaries ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$70,000 a month to technicians, while other companies in the Hsinchou and Taipei regions have even raised salaries for part-time employees by 20 percent, Zang said.

The service sector, which recovered following the upturn of the domestic economy, needs more personnel as companies expand operations in China, the job-tracking firm found.

Ares Chang (張甲賢), director of the human resources department at Holiday Co (好樂迪公司), one of the nation's largest karaoke chains with 60 outlets in Taiwan and one in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, said the company is in urgent need of over 100 management-level employees in China, and up to 900 parlor staff for their Taiwanese outlets.

"The times of sitting in the office waiting for resumes is over," Chang said. "Now we need to call up people and beg them to work for us."

The fitness industry, which has seen rapid growth, is also accelerating its hiring efforts, said Thomas Ho (何文堂), vice president of Alexander Group (亞力山大集團), which operates 20 fitness clubs in Taiwan.

Alexander has established ties with I-Shou University, providing funds and training to selected students, who are then required to work for the company after graduating, Ho said.

"Overall, we may recruit about 600 employees this year, as the group plans to open seven more outlets in Taiwan and one in Shanghai," he said.

Such an on-campus recruiting model will be copied by other service-sector companies, Zang predicted, adding that the program is also being used by the military.

"Taiwan has finally broken the `jobless recovery' curse that has dragged down the job market for years," Zang said.