The job market for Taiwan’s semiconductor industry remained tight this quarter, as hiring activity slowed from a record high last quarter, a survey released yesterday by online human resource firm 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) showed.
Ongoing labor shortages have prompted local semiconductor firms to recruit more women and foreigners in Taiwan and in Southeast Asia, the job bank said.
The talent gap in the first quarter reached 35,000 people per month, a surge of 39.8 percent from the same period last year, as the contactless economy and digital transformation shore up demand for semiconductors, 104 Job Bank said in its annual report on the issue.
Photo: CNA
The gap widened during the April-to-June period when semiconductor firms recruited 36,800 new staffers per month, it said.
Although the monthly pace of recruiting lost some momentum this quarter to 33,000 last month and this month, the mismatch between supply and demand persists, it said.
Jason Chin (晉麗明), a senior recruitment manager at 104 Job Bank, attributed the talent shortage to aggressive capacity expansion on the part of local chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), and chip tester and packager ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), as well as other tech firms.
All of them have asked 104 Job Bank to help find thousands of mid and high-ranking managers and skilled employees, which required the job bank to widen its reach from Taiwan to foreign markets, Chin said, adding that women make up a growing number of the candidates.
Local tech firms have relied on job poaching to mitigate talent shortages, but to little avail, and Taiwan’s low birthrate has made the situation worse, the job bank said.
US DRAM maker Micron Technology Inc’s Taiwan operations said it has expanded recruitment in the past few years to Southeast Asian nations.
Every year, Southeast Asia produces 20 to 25 percent of college graduates with majors in engineering, but only 15 percent end up with jobs in their fields, suggesting an ample talent pool, Micron Memory Taiwan Co (台灣美光) said.
Today, women account for 22 percent of its 6,300 engineers and the proportion has risen to 44 percent among new hires in the past three years, it said.
Human resource managers have to drop their prejudices and preferences associated with gender, appearance and age to recruit the best talent, Micron Taiwan said.
Similarly, photolithography systems supplier ASML Holding NV’s Taiwan office said it has reached out to second-tier universities and colleges in Taiwan and abroad to address talent shortages, as job poaching is not a long-term solution.
Aircraft maintenance engineers who lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic could be great candidates to join semiconductor firms, as both sectors require talent with a high degree of precision, ASML Technology Taiwan Ltd (台灣艾司摩爾) said.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
ABOVE LEGAL REQUIREMENT: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is prepared if LNG supply is disrupted, with more than the legal requirement of 11 days of inventory Taiwan has largely secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies through May and arranged about half of June’s supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28, Taiwan’s LNG inventories have remained more than 12 days, exceeding the legal requirement of 11 days, indicating no major supply concerns for domestic gas and electricity, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. The ministry aims to increase the figure to 14 days by the end of next year, he said. While one or two LNG or crude oil shipments for May
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS