Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday unveiled a plan to hire 9,000 people this year in the latest round of recruitment as the chipmaker races to boost capacity to alleviate a chip crunch and safeguard its technology advantage.
TSMC’s talent recruitment this year might be the most ambitious in its history, while last year’s drive of 8,000 added recruits doubled the 4,000 new hires that it averaged over the preceding few years.
The latest drive — for fabs in Hsinchu, Taichung and Tainan — aims to catch up with growth in the company and new technology development, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker said.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The annual hiring campaign was launched amid shortages of a variety of chips, especially auto chips.
In January, the company revised its five-year revenue forecast to growth of 10 to 15 percent from a previous estimate of 5 to 10 percent, which it attributed primarily to stronger-than-expected demand for applications using high-performance computing and 5G smartphones.
TSMC in January said that it plans an annual capital expenditure of US$25 billion to US$28 billion (US$884.14 million to US$990.24 million), mostly to develop and manufacture advanced 3-nanometer, 5-nanometer and 7-nanometer chips.
The recruitment plan would bring the chipmaker’s overall headcount to more than 60,000 employees, up from 51,297 at the end of 2019.
TSMC hosted a recruitment event at National Taiwan University yesterday, the first in a series of hiring activities to take place at local universities this month and next.
The company expects about 3,000 students to sign up for job interviews, and said that next month it would begin accepting applications to a new internship program.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
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