EMPLOYMENT
Hiring outlook weakens
The hiring outlook for the fourth quarter of the year weakened amid rising uncertainty over the economy at a time of escalating trade friction between the US and China, a survey released by online 1111 Job Bank (1111人力銀行) on Wednesday last week showed. According to the survey, which was conducted from Aug. 23 to Tuesday last week and collected 838 valid questionnaires, 54.89 percent of the responding enterprises said they planned to launch recruitment campaigns in the fourth quarter, down 2.61 percent from a year earlier.
INTERNET
Industrial platform planned
Foxconn Industrial Internet Co Ltd (FII, 富士康工業互聯網) on Tuesday last week said it would work with NXP Semiconductors Ltd of the Netherlands on the development of an industrial Internet system. NXP has agreed to provide artificial intelligence technology and solutions to help FII set up an advanced industrial Internet platform, FII said. The companies would work together to build an industrial Internet ecosystem to help FII clients achieve smart production and management, it said.
APPAREL
Jacket supplier hits record
Leading down jacket supplier Quang Viet Enterprise Co (廣越) yesterday posted record-high sales of NT$2.2 billion (US$71.48 million) for last month, a 25.43 percent year-on-year increase from NT$1.76 billion thanks to peak season effects. The increase brought the company’s cumulative revenue in the first eight months to NT$8.01 billion, up 42.82 percent from NT$5.61 billion the previous year, it said in a statement, adding that orders have surged from major customers such as Adidas AG, Patagonia, Nike Inc, The North Face and Puma AG.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS