Jack Lai (
But instead of flying to Taipei, he stayed in the US, and the 30-minute session took place via computer at a special recruitment pavilion set up at SemiTech Taipei 2006.
The semiconductor exposition had set up the recruitment pavilion to help technology firms contact prospective employees, enabling firms like Princeton Technology to turn to overseas Taiwanese to fill vacancies.
"Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the US government has been tough on immigrants. I have applied for a green card for the past six years, but was told my application has been left untouched," Lai told the Taipei Times shortly after his interview.
After seven years in New York, including one year spent obtaining a masters degree from New York University, he has decided it is time to come home.
"With my international exposure, I think this will be a plus on my job application in Taiwan," he said, his voice coming through the speakers on a slight delay.
People living overseas who have work experience -- especially those in the US and UK -- are being sought by domestic technology firms, which have been facing engineer shortages in recent years.
Statistics from the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center suggest that from last year to next year the nation's technology sector will be short 20,000 research and development engineers.
The semiconductor field will need around 5,000 extra engineers even if the sector's growth remains flat during the three-year period, it said.
Monica Chiu (
"More companies started to introduce new services and products after the economy picked up in 2004, and the high-tech sector has been in need of extra manpower," she said.
The problem is not that the educational sector has been unable to produce enough graduates, but that vendors have found it hard to locate candidates with the qualities to fit industry needs, Chiu said.
Princeton Technology's experience attests to this.
"We were having a tough time hiring qualified engineers and, starting last year, we lowered our requirements from seeking only those with masters degrees and related experience, to fresh graduates," said Jay Yeh (
The Sindian-based company also faces competition for staff from big names such as United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as engineers prefer to work for these firms, which are located in the Hsinchu Science Park, Yeh said.
Set up in 1980, the park is the nation's largest research and development (R&D) base with more than 40,000 engineers, who are dubbed the "high-tech elite."
The race to find workers is set to heat up this year, as TSMC will hire 1,600 engineers, and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (
Chipmaker Inotera Memories Inc (
"Our second fabrication facility will start running in November, and most of the major recruitment is for this plant," he said.
Of the 1,000 engineers working for Inotera Memories, 5 percent are foreign -- mainly from the US, Germany, India and Austria.
The company will be looking for more foreign expertise in the future, he said.
The shortage of workers can be attributed to competition from firms in China, as more Taiwanese have opted for R&D jobs there.
"Some Chinese companies can now afford to pay the same as us, or even offer a higher level to attract foreigners. The lower living costs there allow Taiwanese to live a comfortable life," Yeh from Princeton Technology said.
Data from 104 Job Bank indicated that the number of jobs created by Taiwanese companies in China last month was up 22 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
The majority of such jobs were in R&D, the company said.
Meanwhile, the title of "high-tech elite" seems to be losing some of its sheen in Taiwan, as technology firms are mulling changing the way they reward staff with share bonuses.
Since the late 1980s, with UMC as the pioneer, technology firms have been giving away share bonuses to employees as a part of their salary package, a strategy used to help retain employees.
But this could change this year, because a new alternative-minimum-tax law requires those whose annual earnings exceed NT$6 million (US$189,934) to pay taxes on stock they receive as part of their bonuses.
Chiu from 104 Job Bank suggested that instead of luring staff with competitive salary packages, enterprises should put more effort into creating a working environment where employees enjoy themselves and have fun.
Creating a friendly ambiance -- including dining, leisure and sports facilities -- will improve work quality and attract top-notch engineers, who have to work long hours each day, she said.
Despite the uncertainties, Chong Lit Ho (
The Malaysian, who will receive his doctorate in electronic engineering from the University of Southampton in the UK this month, has decided to develop his career in Taiwan with his wife.
"Taiwan is one of the global semiconductor centers and it is where the industry is going to develop in the next decade," he said, explaining why he chose Taiwan.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
RSS