Recruiting in China

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC, ???), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, plans to hire up to 300 engineers after forecasting more than 80 percent growth in shipments this quarter, said recruiting agency 104 Corp (???), which is helping with the headhunt.

The recruitment drive is part of TSMC’s long-term investment in technological research and development, ensuring that it will be among the earliest companies to benefit once the economy recovers, 104 spokesman Max Fang (???) said.

“It is good timing for local employers to launch large-scale recruitment drives because the nation’s tough job market means a bigger selection,” Fang said. “We believe TSMC is just the beginning and there will be more recruitment programs by local companies later this year because hiring is usually closely linked to an economy improving, as it is now.”

An average of 10 candidates apply for each job offered by high-tech firms today, Fang said, as electronics firms hit by the recession remain cautious about hiring.

The Hsinchu-based chipmaker intends to hire between 200 and 300 design, processing technology and research engineers initially, potentially adding more positions later, Fang said.

As of the end of February, TSMC had about 22,000 employees globally, down 3.8 percent from about 22,800 at the end of last year, the company’s annual report said.

Meanwhile, competitor United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, ??) said it had no plans for significant additions to its payroll because prospects for the second half of the year were still unclear.

However, a UMC official said that the company expected strong growth in shipments in the second quarter.

UMC launched a major restructuring in the second half of last year, tweaking its organizational structure and streamlining its workforce to cut costs and improve profitability.

Separately, a survey conducted by 104 suggested an improvement in the domestic job market.

Job openings have increased 13 percent to 203,000 — the highest figure since last October — since the beginning of the year, when 180,000 jobs were on offer.

However, the number of job openings is half the number of current job seekers, meaning that the unemployment rate may not see an improvement in the short term.

The jobless rate hit a new high of 5.81 percent in March, with 670,000 adults unemployed, government figures showed.
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