Hiring activity in Taiwan would pick up next quarter, as companies woo professionals to meet rising demand from artificial intelligence applications and green energy management, a survey by ManpowerGroup Inc showed yesterday.
About 39 percent of local companies plan to expand their payroll in the April-to-June period, the highest among 41 economies worldwide, thanks to technological advancements, the human resource advisory firm said, citing a quarterly survey of 630 local firms.
Meanwhile, 18 percent of employers plan to reduce headcounts, while 43 percent would keep their workforce unchanged, the survey found.
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Recruitment plans are the strongest in the energy and utilities, information technology, financial and insurance, and real-estate sectors, it found.
“The need for talent has shown a solid increase, especially in technical areas such as green energy management, cloud computing and artificial intelligence [AI] applications,” ManpowerGroup said.
In particular, companies need professionals who possess the skills to cope with energy transition and market demand, it said.
In addition, companies around the world are eager to cut carbon emissions to meet international standards, spurring demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) related talent, ManpowerGroup said.
This recruitment effort not only targets technical engineering professionals, but also focuses on sustainable development, carbon management engineering and energy policy experts, it said.
Employment prospects are also bright for the financial, insurance and real-estate sectors, helped by government policy changes and digital transformation, it said, adding that talent in data analysis, AI and other digital technology areas is therefore in hot demand.
The rising number of transactions online and insurance purchases for overseas trips has driven up the need for software engineers at life insurers, ManpowerGroup said.
Financial institutes have conveyed a preference for job candidates with a background in digital financial technology, it said.
As AI, cloud technology and big data analysis expand into the healthcare, communications and finance sectors, more employers would recruit workers skilled in business innovation and development, it said.
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