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.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced