Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, on Friday announced a 3 to 5 percent pay raise for workers at the company’s plants in Kaohsiung’s Nantze Export Processing Zone (楠梓加工出口區) and Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) this year, joining a slew of local companies in increasing employee payrolls.
ASE is to also give away an extra bonus of NT$10,000 to rank-and-file employees at its Kaohsiung headquarters, the company announced at its annual banquet, or weiya (尾牙) party, for employees.
The wage hikes came after ASE saw revenue increase 5.66 percent to NT$290.44 billion (US$9.87 billion) last year, compared with NT$274.88 billion in 2016.
Automotive components maker Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業) also announced on Friday at its weiya party that employees are to get a pay increase of 5 percent, along with Lunar New Year bonuses equivalent to between three and three-and-a-half months of their salary.
Meanwhile, optical lens maker Kinko Optical Co (今國光) on Saturday said that it will increase employees’ pay by 3 percent, beginning from this month.
Food and beverage chain La Kaffa International Co (六角國際) on Wednesday said the company plans a 3 to 10 percent wage hike for employees this year, with year-end bonuses of up to 12 times their monthly salary after revenue jumped 19.25 percent to a record-high NT$2.498 billion last year.
The companies’ wage hikes are mostly in line with an average 4.09 percent increase in employee salaries by local firms, according to a survey released by manpower agency 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) on Jan. 8. The average wage hikes marked the biggest jump in three years, the job bank said.
Speaking to employees at the weiya party, ASE chairman Jason Chang (張虔生) said he is grateful for their contributions to the company over the past year, and that is why ASE wants to show its gratitude to them.
The company has also decided to establish a kindergarten in Nantze, hoping it will improve the lives of its employees and their children, Chang said, adding that the idea has won backing from the Kaohsiung City Government.
The kindergarten is scheduled to begin construction later this year and become operational next year, he said.
ASE is also committed to increasing its investment in cutting-edge technologies this year to enhance its global competitiveness, Chang said, adding that the company is focusing on artificial intelligence, automotive electronics, Internet of Things and high-performance computing technologies.
The company hires about 17,000 employees, its annual report showed.
ASE and its rival Siliconware Precision Industries Co Ltd (SPIL, 矽品精密) are scheduled to hold their extraordinary general meeting on Feb. 12 to get shareholders’ approval for their merger and the establishment of a holding company, ASE Industrial Holding Co (日月光投資控股).
ASE has said it plans to expand its R&D and production facilities in Kaohsiung and keep its advanced assembly technology in Taiwan, as Chinese players are rapidly catching up.
Additional reporting by Kuo Chia-erh
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
Nvidia Corp’s negotiations to invest as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI have broken down, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, exposing a potential rift between two of the most powerful companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The discussions stalled after some inside Nvidia expressed concerns about the transaction, the WSJ reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the deliberations. OpenAI makes the popular chatbot ChatGPT, while Nvidia dominates the market for AI processors that help develop such software. The companies announced the agreement in September last year, saying at the time that they had signed a letter of intent for a strategic
RSS