Taiwanese employers reported weaker hiring intentions for the second consecutive quarter, with all six sectors surveyed anticipating a decrease in their staffing demand, according to a quarterly report released yesterday.
Of the 1,711 employers interviewed, 22 percent expect an increase in hiring in the fourth quarter, 6 percent foresee a decrease, and 48 percent say there will not be any change in their workforce levels, according to a report from Manpower Services (Taiwan) Co.
This resulted in a "net employment outlook" figure -- used as a comparative measure by subtracting the number of employers planning to reduce staffing levels from the number planning to hire staff -- of 16 percent in Taiwan, said Dennis Lee (
Still, in the first seven months of the year, the nation's unemployment rate averaged 4.17 percent, compared with 4.5 percentage points a year earlier, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said last month.
But the higher cost of oil is likely to hit the local manufacturing sector, push up food prices, increase the cost of transportation and production and eventually reduce employment growth, the survey said.
"The labor market is losing some steam due to economic factors such as gasoline price hikes, and employers are beginning to take a more cautious approach to hiring," Lee said.
Skyrocketing oil prices have hurt already sagging exports, pushing down the nation's economic growth rate to 3.65 percent for this year, following an increase of 5.71 percent last year, the DGBAS said on Aug. 18.
Among the six sectors polled, the most bearish hiring outlook was reported by employers in transportation and utilities (9 percent), wholesale and retail trade (9 percent) and mining and construction (8 percent) sectors, the report said.
The service sector, however, had the most buoyant view, with a net employment outlook figure at 21 percent.
Chan Wei-hsiung (詹偉雄), editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language Business Next (數位時代) magazine, observed that the service sector is facing a turning point where entrepreneurs might see golden opportunities to build up small-scale but successful careers thanks to the changing needs of the manufacturing sector.
"Manufacturing companies are investing more resources in branding, such as BenQ Corp's (明基) takeover of Siemens AG's handset unit, as well as establishing design teams to boost the value of their products, as in the case of Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技)," Chan said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
RSS