Job-seekers optimistic about prospects

Carefully reviewing recruitment fliers from some 200 companies yesterday at a job fair on the National Taiwan University campus, Eric Chang (張程菘), an information engineering graduate, was wondering whether there's a chance of a job for him out there.

But one thing is certain -- Chang hopes he will get a career payoff for foregoing his previous plan to pursue a master degree.

"Before thinking of taking advanced programs, I have to know what kind of professionals those high-tech companies really want," Chang said yesterday.

Chang is looking for a software engineer position and hopes he'll get one from the university's annual job fair.

Getting a junior job in the high-tech sector has become the first step for Chang -- a 25-year-old who will finish his two-year military service next month -- and many of his peers as the nation's employment market heats up and companies step up hiring in recent months.

The jobless rate in January fell to 4.53 percent from 4.58 percent in December, hitting the lowest monthly jobless rate since June 2001, when it was 4.51 percent, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reported last week.

Some 200 companies -- nearly 90 percent of them in the electronics sector -- joined yesterday's event, as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and other companies hire to meet surging overseas demand.

According to the nation's largest online job bank, 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行), semiconductors, opto-electronics and computer-related electronics sectors top the list of those having most aggressive recruitment plans.

"The recent aggressive recruiting efforts by Hsinchu-based companies haven't been seen in the past four years," said Monica Chiu (邱文仁), a manager at the online job market researcher.

UMC, the world's second-largest made-to-order chipmaker, is planning to more than double its hiring this year to 2,500 engineers, said Steven Lwo (羅仕宏), a manager at its human resources division.

"An economic turnaround is the major reason for the increase as demand for consumer-electronics products such as digital cameras and handsets surges. And we need more people to develop new chips," Lwo said.

At UMC's booth, the company displayed a short film featuring the life of its engineers. The company hopes its novel approach will attract jobseekers who otherwise might be attracted by the booming flat-panel industry.

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation's largest flat-panel maker, and smaller rival Chi Mei Opto-electronics Corp (奇美電子) also had booths at the job fair. AU plans to hire 4,500 people this year while Chi Mei is seeking 1,500.

Innolux Display Corp (群創光電), the display-panel manufacturing arm of Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團), plans to hire about 2,000 new staff this year, including engineers and assembly line workers, said Walter Huang (黃華昌), a manager of its human resources division.

Asked if the year-old company feels pressure to fill such a large number of jobs, Huang admitted that "we did have to use better terms, such as stock options, to attract talent be cause Innolux is still a no-name player for people outside the industry."

Innolux is in desperate need of all kinds of engineers in order to meet is schedule of installing the machinery equipment for its advanced fifth-generation fab in Hsinchu in late May, Huang said.