There has been a 25 percent increase in job openings in the technology and e-commerce industries over the past two years, while travel-related industries have seen a decline in vacancies of about 30 percent, a representative from job bank yes123 said yesterday.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, there appears to have been a shift in the jobs available for recent graduates, the job bank said.
People born after the late 1990s could have an advantage when looking for opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields such as artificial intelligence, cloud services and big data, while people with liberal arts degrees could consider opportunities in digital marketing, Web editing, the mobile payment sector and technology law, it said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, only the technology industry, as well as the stay-at-home economy and industries related to digital transformation, have been more welcoming of recent graduates over the past two years, yes123 assistant manager Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said.
On the other hand, the hospitality, tourism, hotel and aviation industries have had a relatively tough time, he said.
With the nation this year experiencing a major local outbreak of the disease, the tutor and realtor professions, which were previously popular among recent graduates, have also been negatively affected, he said.
Accordingly, there have been fewer job opportunities, he added.
Estimates show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities in the e-commerce and technology industries have grown by 25 percent, while the number of openings in businesses such as airlines and hotels have fallen by 30 percent, he said.
Yang said he believes that recent graduates with STEM degrees still possess an advantage over those with liberal arts degrees.
This year, due to people working or attending school remotely, top talent working in areas such as information security, artificial intelligence, cloud services or big data, or even software or electronics, have benefited, he said.
Students who are soon to graduate from college are digital natives, so they have an advantage, he said.
As last year’s college seniors might have postponed their graduation due to COVID-19, and other workers who were put on unpaid leave or let go would also be applying for jobs, students might expect a more competitive job market this summer, he added.
While job vacancies can be expected to increase after the end of the pandemic, young workers still face poor working conditions and low salaries, Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy managing director Alvin Chang (張育萌) said.
The Ministry of Labor should begin making plans to conduct a survey on the work environments of various industries, to provide guidance to high-risk industries on the management of environmental health and safety, and to offer incentives to businesses that want to recruit young workers after the pandemic is over, he said.
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