Domestic companies are showing more interest in hiring staff by the end of next month than they were three months ago, although the number of new recruits hit its second-lowest level in three years, the Council of Labor Affairs’ latest survey showed.
The survey of employers, conducted between Jan. 10 and Jan. 25, indicated that 21.07 percent of the 3,021 employers polled said they would increase their staff by April 30, while 3.97 percent planned to reduce hiring and 65.13 percent opted to maintain their level of recruitment.
“Companies’ willingness to hire more employees has begun to increase moderately as the global economy shows clear signs of stabilization,” the council said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
Taiwan is expected to see its GDP expand by 3.59 percent this year after the economy grew 1.25 percent last year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said on Feb. 22, after IHS Global Insight raised its forecast for global economic growth to 2.6 percent this year, from the 2.5 percent it forecast in January.
Based on the labor council’s survey of domestic companies with 30 or more employees, about 39,300 workers are expected to be hired by the end of next month, while 10,200 jobs will be lost, a statement released by the council showed.
By subtracting the number of employers planning to reduce staffing from the number planning to hire, a net 29,100 new jobs would be created between Feb. 1 and April 30, the council said.
The net increase has rebounded from a three-year low of 26,100 new jobs created in the previous three months, but the number would still be 47.28 percent less than the 55,200 jobs created during the same period last year, the council’s data showed.
However, the latest data feed into a bullish outlook on the domestic labor market. On Friday last week, the council said the number of workers taking unpaid leave reached a four-month low of 2,216 people as of Thursday, while the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said last week that the nation’s unemployment rate edged down for a third straight month to 4.16 percent last month.
The council’s survey showed that the manufacturing sector still accounts for the biggest portion of hiring, with a net increase of 17,700 new jobs, followed by the banking and insurance sector with 2,400 jobs, and the wholesale and retail sector with 2,000 jobs.
Technicians and assistants continued to be the workers most in demand, with a net increase of 8,700 new jobs, followed by unskilled or manual workers (6,300), equipment operators and assemblers (5,100), service and sales representatives (4,100), and specialists (3,000), the survey showed.
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