Bidding goodbye to last year’s gloomy sentiment, the local employment market looks ready to boom, with a number of firms ready to hire both at home and abroad.
Companies from the technology sector and the automobile industry to the services market are gearing up to take in more workers this year as the impact of the financial crisis recedes.
Hsinchu Science Park will hold a recruitment fair on March 13, with 33 firms offering a total of more than 4,600 jobs, Tu Chi-hsiang (杜啟祥), deputy director-general of the park’s administration, said by telephone.
Big names, such as the top two contract chipmakers — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) — as well as the biggest liquid-crystal-display panel maker, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) — will seek to hire engineers and administrative workers.
“A lot of firms have expressed the need for more workers and we are assisting them by holding the job fair to facilitate the recruitment process,” Tu said.
For those wishing to gain experience abroad, a Singapore-based casino resort wants to hire 500 dealers from Taiwan for the gaming floor.
One of the two casino resorts in the city-state started its recruitment campaign in Taipei late last month and successful candidates are expected to report to work by the end of this month.
Starting pay for dealers is S$1,800 (US$1,280), with housing allowances and medical insurance included in the package.
Attracted by a paycheck of NT$60,000 (US$1,900), new graduate Miss Chang quit her job at a media company and reported to work on the casino floor at Macau’s Four Seasons Hotel before the Lunar New Year holiday.
The upbeat sentiment is echoed by a poll released by 1111 Job Bank on Monday.
As many as 72 percent of companies polled said they would be recruiting after the Lunar New Year holiday, nearly double the 38 percent who were looking to recruit in the same period of last year, it said.
Services and technology sectors were the most aggressive in hiring, with an average annual wage offer of NT$360,000, the poll found.
Online human resource Web site Yes123.com (Yes123求職網) said yesterday that 63.1 percent of workers attended courses at their own time last year to increase their competitiveness in the job market.
Popular courses included language studies, computer skills and individual interests.
Yes123 said professional skill was the key element for a company in determining an employee’s ability.
Sales and marketing ability and networking were two other important elements, it said.
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