Prospects for graduates
Approximately 63 percent of businesses surveyed recently by 104 Job Bank have expressed their intention to hire fresh graduates this year.
The results released yesterday showed that businesses this year are offering average starting salaries of NT$33,500 (US$1,098) a month for master’s or doctoral degree holders, NT$28,833 for bachelor’s degree holders, and NT$26,202 for polytechnic graduates.
The figures reflected a 2.3 percent increase in the average starting salary for master’s degree holders compared with last year, but only a marginal rise of 0.7 percent for bachelor’s degree holders and polytechnic graduates.
The increases paled in comparison with the rise in the country’s consumer price index, which registered 1.8 percent for last year and 3.65 percent during the first four months of this year.
The survey said that the electronics and information technology sectors are offering the highest starting salaries this year are at NT$29,895; then the financial, investment consulting and insurance sectors at NT$29,559; and the medical care, environmental and health sectors at NT$28,997.
Business climate improves
The nation’s business climate improved last month as the peak export season approached and the incoming government promised to spur domestic demand, but fewer manufacturers feel optimistic about the near future, according to a survey released yesterday.
In the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research’s (TIER) monthly business climate survey, 35.6 percent of respondents from the manufacturing sector had a positive outlook for the next six months, representing a 4.3 percent drop from the figure for March.
“In the manufacturing sector, the number of respondents who held a negative view of future prospects increased by 3.8 percent to 19.4 percent in April,” said TIER president David Hong (洪德生), as producers worried that soaring international commodity prices would continue to push costs higher.
Taiwan’s service providers were more upbeat than manufacturers. The business climate index for the sector last month jumped to 121.84 points, up from March’s 118.77.
Wine fair in Taichung
A fair featuring six wineries in central Taiwan opened in Taichung City yesterday, exhibiting beverages with a wide range of flavors for participants to taste and compare.
An executive with the Chungyo Department Store (中友百貨), which organized the event, said the fair will run through June 9.
Six exhibitors — two from Nantou County and four from Taichung County — are displaying wines made of local agricultural produce such as plums, roses, rice and grapes.
Each exhibitor has either received recognition for product quality from the Council of Agriculture or has won awards at winery competitions, the executive said.
SMEs bearish on growth
Confidence over prospects for growth is slipping among Asia’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), a survey said yesterday.
SMEs across the region are counting on strong intra-Asian trade to help compensate for an anticipated slowdown in the US economy.
The UPS International Asian Business Monitor survey was carried out in 12 markets with 1,200 respondents.
Fifty-two percent of Asian SMEs said they believed that economic growth would persist, down 5 percentage points from the previous year, said the survey, which was published in the Straits Times.
SMEs across 11 markets also expressed less confidence in their own competitiveness. The exception was upbeat India.
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
WAIT-AND-SEE: Last month’s consumer price index came in at 2.8%, which boosts expectations that the Fed would proceed cautiously to lower inflation sustainably The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this week, treading carefully amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which include spending cuts and sweeping tariffs. Since January, Trump has imposed levies on major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, and on steel and aluminum imports, roiling financial markets and fanning fears that his plans could tip the world’s biggest economy into a recession. The Trump administration has also embarked on unprecedented cost-cutting efforts that target staff and spending, while the US president has promised tax reductions and deregulation down the road. However,
RSS