A spike in COVID-19 infections appear to have had little impact on the local job market, as the number of job offers reached 1.01 million this month, growing 13 percent from January, a survey by the online 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) showed yesterday.
The uptrend suggested vibrant hiring activity, as Taiwanese companies are upbeat about business prospects even though domestic cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 have exceeded 1,000 per day for the past few days, the online human resources firm said.
The development came after authorities in Taiwan focused on allowing economic activity to proceed with the least interruption, as more than 99 percent of Omicron patients display mild or no symptoms, the job bank said.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung Labor Affairs Bureau
The number of companies with job openings soared 30 percent from 40,000 in January to 52,000 this month, it said.
A breakdown by sector showed electronics, software and semiconductor companies with the most job vacancies at 197,000, followed by 165,000 at hospitality service providers and 147,000 at traditional manufacturers, it said.
By occupation, food and beverage attendants, machinery and equipment operators, as well as business salespeople were in high demand, with vacancies of 130,000, 112,000 and 87,000 respectively, it said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker whose clients include Apple Inc and Intel Corp, has lowered its recruitment threshold from top-grade university graduates with master’s or doctorate degrees to candidates from all universities and colleges, it said.
To attract and retain talent, TSMC has reportedly offered a 10 percent pay raise for employees this year, IDC said, citing local Chinese-language media.
Similarly, chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) is hiring new engineers whose wages and perks could approach NT$2 million (US$68,423) a year, it said.
However, monthly wages for low-skilled equipment operators and product packagers fall somewhere between NT$31,000 and NT$35,000 at semiconductor manufacturing facilities, the job bank said.
Those willing to work graveyard shifts might earn an extra 30 to 50 percent, it said, but added that relatively few people are willing to work graveyard shifts for health and family reasons.
Hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities have high turnover rates and are often in need of employees, it found.
Many hospitality facilities have not yet returned to business levels prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a lingering boom in domestic tourism, it said.
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