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.
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
RSS