Overtime hours at Taiwan’s electronics companies hit their highest level for June since records began in 1980 as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom continues to drive demand, data released on Monday by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed.
Employees in the electronic components industry worked an average of 28.7 hours of overtime in June, far beyond the national average of 9.1 hours across the industrial and service sectors, the DGBAS said.
Average overtime in the computer and optoelectronics industry also reached a record high for June at 17.7 hours, the highest since 1980, the data showed.
Photo: Huang Shu-lei, Taipei Times
The DGBAS said sustained global enthusiasm for AI has driven a surge in orders received by technology companies, prompting employers to rely heavily on overtime. It said that overtime hours are often a barometer of activity in the sector.
In June, average overtime in the manufacturing sector stood at 18.0 hours, up 0.5 hours from a year earlier, but down 0.3 hours from May. Across the industrial and service sectors, average overtime was 9.1 hours, up 0.5 hours year on year but down 0.2 hours from the previous month, the agency said.
For the first half of the year, average overtime nationwide stood at 9.1 hours, up 0.4 hours from a year earlier, while average overtime in the manufacturing sector rose 0.8 hours year on year to 17.8 hours, it said.
Employment in Taiwan’s industrial and service sectors was 8.58 million at the end of June, up 10,000, or 0.12 percent, from the end of May. Manufacturing reported the largest monthly increase, adding 4,000 jobs, the DGBAS said.
Within manufacturing, employment trends varied in June: The number of workers in the electronic components industry rose 0.6 percent from a month earlier and the number of employees in the computer and optoelectronics industry rose 0.27 percent, while employment in the rubber and plastics products industry fell 0.37 percent and employment in the plastics industry declined 0.13 percent, the data showed.
DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director-General Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲) said employment declines in some traditional industries indicated that conditions in those sectors needed time to improve.
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