High-tech giants to start hiring drive

SEEKING ENGINEERS:TSMC said starting salaries for new graduates would be up to NT$60,000, but total earnings with bonuses could reach NT$1.48 million per year

Staff writer, with CNA

People attend a jobs fair at National Taiwan University in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: CNA

Several major high-tech firms are to launch hiring campaigns to each recruit thousands of new employees this year for an upgrade in production technology and capacity expansion.

Among the companies are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chip maker, and flat-panel suppliers AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達) and Innolux Corp (群創).

TSMC said that it is looking for 3,000 to 4,000 engineers this year, as output of its advanced 10 nanometer (nm) process — which began commercial production in the fourth quarter of last year — is expected to pick up significantly this year.

The company said that its plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) in Taichung houses the production lines for the 10nm process, so the site is expected to absorb most of the new recruits this year.

TSMC is looking for specialists in semiconductor equipment, technology integration, testing, and research and development, it said.

The starting salary for a new graduate with a doctorate is NT$60,000 (US$1,934) per month, NT$45,000 for a new graduate with a master’s degree and NT$38,000 for a new graduate with a bachelor’s degree, unchanged from a year earlier, TSMC said.

It said that as the company is raking in more earnings, its employees are expected to receive good bonuses.

TSMC said that a newly hired engineer with a master’s degree is expected to receive about NT$1.48 million in total compensation per year.

AUO said that it is planning to hire about 1,200 engineers in a wide range of segments such as optoelectronics development, electrical engineering, information engineering, system management, software design and cloud system development.

The flat-panel maker’s hiring campaign started yesterday and is to run through April 26.

AUO is to hold jobs fairs at 13 universities, the company said.

In addition to the recruitment of new graduates, AUO said that it has an internship program to place 120 students from Taiwan or from other countries.

The interns are likely to secure a job at AUO if they perform well, it said.

Innolux unveiled its InnoStar program, which the company said is seeking to recruit 2,800 people this year, double the number of last year.

The new recruits are to comprise of 2,000 technicians and 800 research and development engineers.

Innolux said that the new hirings are expected to help the company with its production expansion at its advanced 8.6G plant in Kaohsiung.

The starting salary for a new graduate with a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate would be NT$38,000, NT$48,000 and NT$61,000 respectively, plus bonuses, Innolux said.