College graduates, who face higher unemployment than any other educated group, will meet unprecedented difficulty in finding jobs this year as companies halt expansion plans and tighten human capital to weather the economic downturn, economists said yesterday.
While the poor economy is to blame for the shrinking labor market, the general lack of professional skills among college graduates aggravates their plight, which could linger after the recession if they fail to address the matter, economists said.
Polaris Research Institute (寶華綜合經濟研究院) president Liang Kuo-yuan said that unemployment was highly likely to exceed 6 percent in coming months after dropping 0.03 percentage points to 5.76 percent in April.
Starting late last month, more than 300,000 new college graduates were expected to enter the job market, though some could follow the government’s advice and continue their education before a recovery.
“Like job-creation programs, postponing graduation could help mitigate unemployment in the short run, but this is not a lasting remedy,” Liang said by telephone.
Liang said the economy was likely to make a semi-V-shaped recovery mixed with a protracted spell of stagnancy.
With an uncertain outlook, firms will remain conservative, although their risk appetite has recovered somehwhat, Liang said, adding that new job opportunities would be limited this year.
The economist said job seekers should increase their competitiveness rather than worry about when to enter the job market, adding that skilled people are always in demand.
Jack Huang (黃蔭基), head economist at SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控), said his company had introduced a salary and personnel freeze amid the financial crisis.
The road to recovery, he said, could be bumpier than expected, as retail sales in the US remained weak and exports in China dropped 28 percent last month.
“Companies that are willing to hire new employees offer low salaries,” Huang said, adding that management associates in financial holding firms, for instance, were offered an entry salary of NT$55,000 a month in 2006, but half the amount this year.
“The situation has a slim chance of improving this year,” Huang said by telephone.
Kevin Hsiao (蕭正義), head of UBS Wealth Management Research, said the macro-environment was unfavorable for first-time job seekers, who need three to six months to become productive.
“Amid the downturn, companies will prefer experienced workers who can make immediate contributions — and that’s if recruiting new employees is necessary,” Hsiao said.
He said the labor market had yet to hit bottom and would remain tough for the rest of the year.
The economist, however, said companies with vision should start recruiting and nurturing talent because doing so now was less expensive than after a recovery.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”