Chunghwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) yesterday said that it expects to see an unprecedented wave of up to 5,000 people retiring over the next five years, enabling the wireless carrier to infuse its workforce with people with artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G experience.
As Chunghwa Telecom workers file for retirement at an increased pace compared with recent years, the nation’s biggest telecom operator plans to launch a huge recruitment drive next year to curb attrition, including at its subsidiaries.
As many as 1,600 jobs would be available at the firm next year, it said.
About 1,000 people applied to retire this year, about 33 percent more than last year’s 750 applications, it said.
Over the five-year period to 2023, about 5,000 workers are eligible for retirement, the company said.
“For Chunghwa Telecom alone, we plan to hire about 1,000 new employees next year. However, to adapt to industry changes, the workforce structure will be adjusted,” Chunghwa Telecom chairman David Cheng (鄭優) said.
“Employees that have expertise in new technologies will constitute a bigger portion of the overall staff,” Cheng said.
Chunghwa Telecom plans to target people with knowledge about AI, Internet-of-Things, big data analysis and mobile payments.
The company already has about 300 employees with AI expertise, Cheng added.
The telecom has also joined a consortium to vie for an Internet-only bank permit in Taiwan.
“Our recruitment program aims to create a more agile workforce through gradual transition,” company senior vice president Su Tian-tsair (蘇添財) said by telephone.
The company has about 23,000 workers.
Chunghwa Telecom also plans to shift its focus to its less-utilized assets next year after reaching its goal of boosting its multimedia-on-demand (MOD) subscribers to 2 million, Cheng said.
The telecom owns about 400 hectares of real estate, mainly for office buildings and equipment installations.
The company said it plans to spend between NT$400 million and NT$500 million (US$12.98 million and US$16.23 million) on a new social housing program in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅) and Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) primarily for its employees and the disadvantaged.
The apartments are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021, the company said.
Chunghwa Telecom said it is pushing for more social housing programs next year in collaboration with local governments’ urban renewal programs.
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