Taiwanese employers are positive on staffing demand in the second quarter, with the nation reporting the second-strongest job prospects in the Asia-Pacific region and the third-best in the world, a report released yesterday by Manpower Inc showed.
Of the 1,041 employers polled this quarter, 38 percent said they would increase their staff in the coming quarter, 3 percent planned a decrease in hiring and 57 percent expected to maintain their current payrolls, the Milwaukee-based employment services provider said in the report.
The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey indicated that next quarter would offer the most promising hiring environment in Taiwan since the second quarter of 2005.
The quarterly report said Taiwan’s “net employment outlook” figure — calculated by subtracting the number of employers planning to reduce staffing levels from the number planning to hire workers — stands at a strong 33 percent for the three months ending June 30, up 6 percentage points from the current quarter and 39 percentage points higher than a year ago.
The nation’s net employment score of 33 percent also makes it the third-highest in the world, following India’s 39 and Brazil’s 38, the report said.
Globally, the report showed employers in 27 of 36 economies expect positive hiring activity in the second quarter. In the Asia-Pacific region, job prospects remain strong in the quarter ahead, with the exception of Japan, Manpower said.
The report also found employers in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors the most optimistic, with 40 percent of respondents saying they would add employees in the coming quarter. That was followed by the services sector with 33 percent and manufacturing sector with 29 percent. In contrast, employers in the transportation and utilities sector would have the weakest staffing demand, at 20 percent.
However, Terence Liu (劉玿廷), general manager of Manpower Services (Taiwan) Co, said potential jobseekers should be careful when it comes to career change.
“Historically, the second quarter is the season for job transitions. However, even in a labor market that looks as though it will provide many opportunities for job seekers, the survey shows that almost 60 percent of the employers have no intention of altering staff numbers,” Liu said in an e-mailed statement. “So job seekers should be prepared to consult professionals and carefully analyze the pros and cons before making any changes.”
Backed by improving economic fundamentals, Taiwan’s jobless rate fell for the fifth month to a one-year low of 5.68 percent in January after hitting 6.13 percent in August, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Feb. 22. The number of people losing jobs dropped by 6,000 to 626,000 in January from December, while the number of employed rose 4,000 to 10.39 million people, the DGBAS said.
The 104 Job Bank, meanwhile, said yesterday that hiring opportunities have increased by nearly 110,000 jobs, or 56 percent, to 296,000 this month from the same period last year.
The financial sector is said to feel most eager to fill vacancies, the online job bank said. Firms in the semiconductor manufacturing, metal production and electronic-components-making industries will also add to payrolls, it said.
Employment opportunities in central Taiwan are increasing by 60.9 percent year-on-year, the job bank said, in southern Taiwan by 59.7 percent and in northern Taiwan 57.3 percent, it added.
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