Jobs just waiting for new graduates, analysts say

Despite concern that the nation is experiencing an economic slowdown, there are plenty of job openings in the labor-intensive distribution and retail sectors just waiting to be filled by energetic graduates, industry watchers said yesterday.

"The employment market actually looks very optimistic for job seekers in the latter half of the year, as opportunities abound," said Kevin Zang (臧聲遠), chief editor of the local monthly magazine Career (就業情報).

Domestic retail giants, such as the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain, health and cosmetics retailer Watsons and hypermarket operator RT-Mart (大潤發), have all arranged ambitious expansion plans for the end of the year, which will significantly stimulate the job market, he said.

As most young people are wary of working for distribution and retail companies, which require physical labor and long working hours, Zang said business operators are offering better salaries for outlet chiefs as an incentive to recruit talented young employees.

"Although economic growth is slowing down, the service industry is bucking the trend and hiring more staff," he said.

Last month, the government revised downward its GDP forecast for the year to 3.63 percent from the previous prediction of 4.21 percent, citing sluggish exports amid a weakening global economy. This is the second time it has slashed the forecast this year.

In addition, the unemployment rate last month rose to 4.1 percent from 4.04 percent in April, with a total of 424,000 people jobless last month.

Despite these challenges, this summer would be a good time to land ideal jobs as the employment market prepares for a wave of new job seekers, said Monica Chiu (邱文仁), marketing director of the 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行).

"Since last year, many local companies have been dedicating huge resources to the development of new products and services in the hope of retaking the turf they lost in 2002 and 2003, when the economy was at a low. Now salespeople and technology-savvy professionals are among the most wanted," she said.

Chiu dismissed market concerns that high-tech businesses are losing their appeal in terms of recruiting new blood, saying these market leaders always open their arms wide to welcome graduates with a science and engineering background, especially software engineers.

Zang, however, said there is a possibility that the market will soon see an overflow of unemployed people with science qualifications, as high-tech companies are reducing their job openings.

He attributed this to manufacturers relocating their production lines to China, as well as company mergers, as in the case of the nation's largest chip-design firm, MediaTek Inc (聯發科技), which took over the management of its smaller rival ALi Corp (揚智科技) last year.

To help graduates land their first job quickly, Career will hold a two-day exposition starting tomorrow in the Taipei World Trade Center's Exhibition Hall III. There is no entrance fee.

The expo will feature nearly 200 companies offering more than 30,000 job opportunities, ranging from the semiconductor, manufacturing and service industries to finance and insurance.