Children born to employees of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) accounted for 1.8 percent of Taiwan’s newborns last year, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said on Friday.
In its most recent environmental, social and governance newsletter, TSMC said that employees at its plants in Taiwan gave birth to 2,463 children last year. A total of 135,571 children were born in the country.
New births in Taiwan fell to a new low last year. However, the number of children born to employees at TSMC plants in the country rose by about 1.7 percent from 2,368 in 2022, the newsletter said.
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
The “TSMC Child Care Benefit Program 2.0” helps it promote a family-friendly workplace, providing a secure and enriching educational environment for employees’ children at its science park campuses, the chipmaker said.
Under the childcare program, eligible employees are granted up to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for a first child, 16 weeks for a second child and 20 weeks for a third child or more, TSMC said.
The company also provides 10 days of paid paternity leave so employees can spend time with their spouse for prenatal checkups and newborn care.
In addition, the company’s Employee Welfare Committee provides NT$10,000 in childbirth subsidies and up to NT$10,000 in public group insurance for each birth, TSMC said.
The chipmaker has built four preschools on its campuses in science parks at Hsinchu, Taichung and Tainan for children aged two to six, it said.
Childcare services are also available from 7am to 8pm to accommodate employees’ work schedules, TSMC added.
Last year, the company made its preschools available to employees of subsidiaries and affiliates, such as image sensor foundry services provider VisEra Technologies Co Ltd, contract chipmaker Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp and application-specific integrated circuit designer Global Unichip Corp.
Starting this year, TSMC plans to further expand its services. It will allow the children of those who work at science park management bureaus and other companies to attend the preschools, it said.
The chipmaker had 67,000 employees in Taiwan at the end of last year.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the