In the News

High-tech, financial sectors spark hiring boom

• Publication Date：03/12/2010
• Source： Economic Daily News

In response to economic recovery and employment stimulus measures from the Executive Yuan, the high-tech and financial sectors are set to offer more than 30,000 job opportunities this year.

As the graduation season approaches, firms will be doing all they can to attract talent. These moves will bring in new blood to the job market and also trigger a wave of job hopping.

Major high-tech companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., United Microelectronics Corp., AU Optronics Corp., Innolux Display Corp. and Motech Industries Inc., and leading financial firms such as Cathay Financial Holdings, Fubon Financial Holding Co. Ltd. and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. Ltd. have resumed full-scale staff recruiting, setting off a talent war in their sectors.

The job-switching trend witnessed prior to the global financial tsunami is likely to reappear, resulting in worker mobility as high as 18 percent in science parks, in contrast to the single-digit figures registered in 2009.

Morris Chang, chairman of TSMC, announced March 11 that starting immediately the company will be opening up 2,400 full-time positions, replacing some current temporary contract workers. TSMC hopes in this way to improve morale and stimulate production.

In addition to hiring for existing full-time positions, TSMC will invest NT$150 billion (US$4.71 billion) in Taiwan, providing 3,000 openings for engineers, raising the enterprise’s total job offerings for the year to 5,400.

AUO also announced March 11 the commencement of its hiring campaign for 2010, with positions for 2,500 employees, including specialists not only in panels and optoelectronics, but also in solar energy and organic light-emitting diodes, to bring in new blood to prepare for the firm’s next 10 years of development.

Human resources directors in the semiconductor industry said the two leading firms, TSMC and AUO, worth NT$2 trillion, are expanding production on a large scale this year, so a huge number of positions are available, and this will generate job hopping in the market.

In the financial and insurance sectors, extensive hiring will resume this year, with an overall demand for over 20,000 personnel. (THN)