Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, announced at its annual sports day on Saturday that it would give NT$468 million (US$15.35 million) in bonuses to its employees.
Expressing gratitude to employees for their contributions, TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said at the event in Hsinchu that it would give each of its roughly 39,000 employees who were working for TSMC as of May 31 a bonus of NT$12,000.
The payout is expected to be disbursed next month, TSMC said.
The company’s sports day is a favorite among TSMC employees, because they generally receive a bonus. This year, each employee is to receive the same amount as last year.
TSMC is experiencing sluggish sales growth in a generally difficult market, complicated by the US-China trade dispute.
Liu said the company expects sales to be slightly higher this year compared with last year, while sales for the global semiconductor industry as a whole are forecast to fall 12 percent.
TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀), whom Liu replaced as chairman after he retired in June last year, attended this year’s sports day after missing it last year and drew a huge ovation.
Chang urged employees to help TSMC maintain its lead in technology, further upgrade its production technology and boost clients’ trust to help maintain the company’s status in the global market.
Meanwhile, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) responded on the sidelines of the event to speculation that the company is planning to build a solar power plant in Pingtung County.
He said that the power plant would be built by the company’s clients, not the company itself, but that TSMC would consume all of the power produced.
Green energy is critical to society and the economy, Wei said, while pledging that TSMC would do its best to push up the ratio of green power consumption to total electricity consumption.
RESTRUCTURING: Taichung and Taoyuan profited most from local firms moving back high-end manufacturing amid the US-China decoupling of trade ties, the ministry said The government’s “Invest in Taiwan” initiative might this year see NT$627.1 billion (US$21.7 billion) of investment pledges realized, with several firms raising stakes and two dropouts due to customer losses, Minister of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said yesterday. Wang made the statement at the monthly meeting of the Third Wednesday Club, a local trade group featuring the top 100 firms of each business sector. Since early last year, the government has launched three programs intended to help local companies grapple with US-China trade rows and the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly through moving production lines back to Taiwan. Thus far, the ministry
JOBS AT RISK? Most Cathay Dragon routes are to be operated by Cathay Pacific or a subsidiary, but it was unclear how Taiwanese workers would be affected Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (國泰航空) yesterday said it is planning new flight services for Taiwan as it announced a corporate restructuring that included the shutdown of its regional subsidiary, Cathay Dragon (國泰港龍), and could lead to job cuts in Taiwan. Cathay Pacific said the shutdown means that the one round-trip service between Taichung and Hong Kong per day and seven round-trip services between Kaohsiung and Hong Kong operated by Cathay Dragon prior to the COVID-19 pandemic would be terminated. “The parent company is planning a new schedule between Taiwan and Hong Kong,” Cathay Pacific assistant manager for corporate communications Moses Hou (侯恩錫)
OVERHEATED MARKET?: The gauge would be designed to provide more reliable information than private-sector data, and help improve policymaking, the council said The National Development Council (NDC) is considering creating a business climate index on Taiwan’s property market, allowing policymakers to better monitor market movements and intervene if necessary, NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Kung made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Economic Committee where lawmakers from across party lines voiced concerns about housing price hikes driven by capital repatriation. Kung said that the council is assessing the possibility of creating an index designed to provide more accountable and transparent information than data provided by private-sector market analysts, and could help improve policymaking. The council would compile a report on
STOCK MARKETS TAIEX closes slightly higher The TAIEX closed slightly higher yesterday as market sentiment remained cautious over the Nov. 3 US presidential election. Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was again the anchor stabilizing the broader market, preventing the main board from falling into negative territory at the end of the session, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 14.88 points, or 0.12 percent, at 12,877.25, on turnover of NT$167.982 billion (US$5.81 billion). TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, rose 0.44 percent after fluctuating between NT$451 and NT$456. The semiconductor subindex and the bellwether electronics sector
RSS