Taiwan's TFT-LCD panel makers actively recruiting talents

Taipei, Jan. 21, 2005 (CENS)--Most Taiwanese makers of large-sized thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels are actively recruiting talented professionals and workers in line with the mass production of their new-generation (5.5th- and 6th-generation) panel facilities.

The demand for new employees from the TFT-LCD panel line is expected to outstrip 10,000 people, which is expected to absorb many talents from other lines and leads to a new wave of talent flow.

The intensive recruitments by TFT-LCD panel makers in recent years have hindered other high-tech lines in Taiwan from seeking new workers. Wang Wen-hwa, CEO of Quanta Computer Inc., for example, recently said that his company's new employee recruitment projects were undermined by the talent-absorbing campaigns by the optoelectronics line.

Industry sources said that the flat panel display (FPD) industry still enjoys great growth potential, although it experienced a downward in the fourth quarter of 2004. The operation of the new-generation panel facilities will stimulate the demand for talents.

K.Y. Lee, chairman of AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), the No. 1 large-sized panel maker in Taiwan, said that his company's workforce has rapidly grown to 19,000 people, including 10,000 employees in Taiwan and the rest in mainland China. Lee pointed out that AUO is scheduled to recruit 3,000 employees this year, including 2,200 technical staff, 800 engineers (including 200 R&D engineers).

Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), the No. 2 panel maker in Taiwan, now has 12,000 employees in Taiwan, including 4,500 recruited in 2004. The company plans to recruit 5,000 new employees this year, including 1,000 engineers and 4,000 production-line workers.

CMO is currently the only local panel maker that hast yet to set up a rear-section LCD module (LCM) assembly plant, which requires intensive labor forces, in mainland China. The company's fourth plant, a new LCM facility, will soon begin mass production of LCD TVs.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (CPT), No. 3 in Taiwan, now employs over 20,000 workers worldwide, including about 7,000 in Taiwan, 9,000 in mainland China, and about 5,000 in Malaysia. CPT's sixth-generation panel plant in Taiwan is scheduled to begin mass production in the second half of this year, and the company plans to recruit 1,000 engineers and a certain amount of production-line workers this year.

The No. 4 Quanta Display Inc. will kick off official run of its new sixth-generation panel plant in the second half this year, and will recruit 1,000 to 2,000 new employees.

Other panel makers in Taiwan, including HannStar Display Corp., Innolux Display Corp. and Toppoly Optoelectronics Inc. will also seek additional employees to support their output expansions this year.