Latest news with #Taipei
Times of Oman
21 hours ago
- Business
- Times of Oman
Taiwan's semiconductor talent shortage reaches 34,000 in May
Taipei: Taiwan's semiconductor industry faced a labour shortage of 34,000 workers as of May this year, according to a report released Monday by the 104 job bank and the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Focus Taiwan reported. The shortages came on the back of the industry's continued expansion, fueled by increased investment in advanced processes, the news article said, citing the 2025 Semiconductor Industry Talent Report. The three main job categories in demand were "production/quality control/environmental safety," "research and development," and "operations/technical support and maintenance," it said. Job openings for production, quality and environmental safety grew from 5,600 in October 2023 to roughly 10,000 in May 2025, while demand in the research and development category rose from 6,000 in 2023 to 9,316 in May this year, the report said. Furthermore, the number of job openings in the operations/technical support and maintenance category grew from 4,300 in October 2023 to 7,240 in May 2025 -- an increase of 67 percent, Focus Taiwan reported. This reflects rising demand for equipment operators and maintenance personnel driven by the expansion of advanced processes and advanced packaging production lines, the news article noted. Taiwan alone accounted for 68.8 percent of the world's foundry market in 2024, and also led the world in IC packaging and testing with nearly 50 percent of the market, according to Jeff Lin, general director of ITRI's Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center. The country is also a key production base for chips at 7 nanometers and below, and produces as much as 83 percent of the world's AI chips, Lin added. From 2010-2024, the output value of the IC industry tripled, while the number of newborns in Taiwan has declined by about 20 percent, highlighting concerns over a potential talent gap as the high-tech sector continues to grow rapidly, he explained. Recruiting of talent in the field of operations/technical support and maintenance has been especially difficult because this requires people to work shifts, the report said, adding that there is also an emphasis on hands-on and on-site skills. Meanwhile, the report provided an analysis of the sector's salary structure, showing that among non-managerial positions, analog IC design engineers had the highest median annual salary at NT$1.78 million (US$60,320), followed by digital IC design engineers at NT$1.57 million, it said.
Malay Mail
a day ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Taiwan's garbage trucks offer classical music and a catch-up
TAIPEI, July 29 — Taiwanese residents holding plastic bags of rubbish stand on a footpath as a yellow garbage truck playing classical music over a loudspeaker pulls up. For decades, the tinkling of Beethoven's Fur Elise or Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska's Maiden's Prayer has alerted Taiwanese households to take out their garbage. Like clockwork, residents emerge from their apartment buildings carrying bags of pre-sorted rubbish as the musical garbage trucks approach. 'When we hear this music, we know it's time to take out the trash. It's very convenient,' 78-year-old Lee Shu-ning told AFP as she waited outside her tower block in Taipei. Residents toss plastic bags of general refuse into the yellow compaction truck, and tip food waste and recycling into bins carried by another vehicle. For the elderly, taking out the trash has become a social event and many arrive early to sit and talk around the collection points. 'I can chat with some old neighbours and friends, it's nice,' Lee said, before disposing of several bottles and cans. 'It's also a kind of exercise,' she added. But not everyone is a fan. 'I think it's quite inconvenient because it comes at a fixed time every day,' said 31-year-old beautician Dai Yun-wei after dumping her rubbish in the truck. 'Sometimes we're not home or we're busy, so we can't throw away the trash.' 'Save a lot of time' Taiwan's musical garbage trucks have been an almost daily feature of life on the island since the 1960s, Shyu Shyh-shiun of Taipei's Department of Environmental Protection told AFP. Taiwan imported German garbage trucks pre-programmed with Fur Elise, Shyu said, but added it was not clear how the Maiden's Prayer became part of the repertoire. The trucks operate five days a week, usually in the late afternoon and evening. Yang Xiu-ying, 76, has made a living out of helping her neighbours dispose of their garbage. She receives NT$11,200 (RM1,604) a month from 28 households in her lane to sort their trash, load it onto a trolley and take it to the refuse trucks. 'Some people get off work late, some elderly people find it inconvenient, so they take it downstairs and I dump the garbage for them,' Yang said, wearing two layers of gloves and long protective sleeves. Others have turned to digital solutions for their rubbish problem. The young founders of Tracle created an app enabling people to book a time for their trash to be taken away. 'I think our value is that we save a lot of time for them,' co-founder Ben Chen said. 'We enhance their life quality.' Cleaning up Over the past 30 years, Taiwan has been cleaning up its waste management act. An economic boom had led to an explosion of garbage, with almost no recycling, landfills overflowing and people protesting air and ground pollution. In response, the island ramped up recycling, increased incineration and made people responsible for sorting and dumping their own trash in the trucks instead of leaving it on the ground for collection. Taipei residents are also required to buy government-approved blue plastic bags for their general waste to encourage them to use less and recycle more. 'In the beginning, everybody feels... that it's not very convenient,' Shyu said. But once people started noticing the cleaner streets, 'they feel this is a good policy'. The city's recycling rate has surged to nearly 67 per cent, from two per cent in 2000, and the amount of garbage sent for incineration has fallen by two-thirds, Shyu said. And, he said, smiling, the trucks are 'almost' always on time. — AFP
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
TV show imagines China invasion, a grim reminder for Taiwan viewers
TAIPEI, July 28 — A new Taiwanese television series that imagines the run-up to a Chinese invasion is getting rave reviews from viewers, who said the first programme featuring the sensitive topic is a wake-up call for the public facing heightened Chinese military threat. In the show, Zero Day Attack, a Chinese war plane goes missing near Taiwan. China then sends swarms of military boats and planes for a blockade as Taiwan goes on a war footing. Panic ensues on the streets of Taipei. At viewings in Taipei last week attendees have included the top US diplomat in Taiwan Raymond Greene, who is director of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Taiwanese tycoon Robert Tsao, a strident critic of Beijing. The series is set to premiere on August 2 in Taiwan, followed by its Japanese release on Amazon Prime Video. 'Presenting such a situation (of conflict) can lead to more discussion about what we should do if it really turns into reality one day,' said Blair Yeh, a 35-year-old engineer, after watching the first episode in the Taipei premier last week. The premise of Zero Day Attack is a topic that has for years been considered too sensitive for many Taiwan filmmakers and television show creators, who fear losing access to the lucrative Chinese entertainment market. More than half of the show's crew asked to remain anonymous on the crew list, and some people including a director pulled out of the production at the last minute, its showrunner Cheng Hsin Mei told Reuters. But as China steps up military threats, including at least six rounds of major war games in the past five years and daily military activities close to Taiwan, the upcoming drama confronts the fear by setting the 10-episode series around a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The drama focuses on several scenarios Taiwan might face in the days leading up to a Chinese attack, including a global financial collapse, the activation of Chinese sleeper agents and panicked residents trying to flee the island. 'Without freedom, Taiwan is not Taiwan,' the actor who plays a fictional Taiwan president says in a televised speech, urging unity after declaring war on China, in the show's trailer. The live broadcast then gets abruptly cut off, replaced by a feed of a Chinese state television anchor calling for Taiwanese to surrender and to report 'hidden pro-independence activists' to Chinese soldiers after their landing in Taiwan. 'We've been comfortable for a long time now,' said viewer Leon Yu, 43-year-old semiconductor industry professional, adding Taiwan's freedom and democracy must be kept. 'There's still a lot of people out there burying their head in the sand and don't want to face the dangers of the present.' — Reuters
France 24
2 days ago
- General
- France 24
Taiwan's garbage trucks offer classical music and a catch-up
For decades, the tinkling of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" or Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska's "Maiden's Prayer" has alerted Taiwanese households to take out their garbage. Like clockwork, residents emerge from their apartment buildings carrying bags of pre-sorted rubbish as the musical garbage trucks approach. "When we hear this music, we know it's time to take out the trash. It's very convenient," 78-year-old Lee Shu-ning told AFP as she waited outside her tower block in Taipei. Residents toss plastic bags of general refuse into the yellow compaction truck, and tip food waste and recycling into bins carried by another vehicle. For the elderly, taking out the trash has become a social event and many arrive early to sit and talk around the collection points. "I can chat with some old neighbours and friends, it's nice," Lee said, before disposing of several bottles and cans. "It's also a kind of exercise," she added. But not everyone is a fan. "I think it's quite inconvenient because it comes at a fixed time every day," said 31-year-old beautician Dai Yun-wei after dumping her rubbish in the truck. "Sometimes we're not home or we're busy, so we can't throw away the trash." - 'Save a lot of time' - Taiwan's musical garbage trucks have been an almost daily feature of life on the island since the 1960s, Shyu Shyh-shiun of Taipei's Department of Environmental Protection told AFP. Taiwan imported German garbage trucks pre-programmed with "Fur Elise", Shyu said, but added it was not clear how the "Maiden's Prayer" became part of the repertoire. The trucks operate five days a week, usually in the late afternoon and evening. Yang Xiu-ying, 76, has made a living out of helping her neighbours dispose of their garbage. She receives NT$11,200 ($380) a month from 28 households in her lane to sort their trash, load it onto a trolley and take it to the refuse trucks. "Some people get off work late, some elderly people find it inconvenient, so they take it downstairs and I dump the garbage for them," Yang said, wearing two layers of gloves and long protective sleeves. Others have turned to digital solutions for their rubbish problem. The young founders of Tracle created an app enabling people to book a time for their trash to be taken away. "I think our value is that we save a lot of time for them," co-founder Ben Chen said. "We enhance their life quality." Cleaning up Over the past 30 years, Taiwan has been cleaning up its waste management act. An economic boom had led to an explosion of garbage, with almost no recycling, landfills overflowing and people protesting air and ground pollution. In response, the island ramped up recycling, increased incineration and made people responsible for sorting and dumping their own trash in the trucks instead of leaving it on the ground for collection. Taipei residents are also required to buy government-approved blue plastic bags for their general waste to encourage them to use less and recycle more. "In the beginning, everybody feels... that it's not very convenient," Shyu said. But once people started noticing the cleaner streets, "they feel this is a good policy". The city's recycling rate has surged to nearly 67 percent, from two percent in 2000, and the amount of garbage sent for incineration has fallen by two-thirds, Shyu said. And, he said, smiling, the trucks are "almost" always on time.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Reuters
New TV show imagines China invasion, gives Taiwan viewers wake-up call
TAIPEI, July 28 (Reuters) - A new Taiwanese television series that imagines the run-up to a Chinese invasion is getting rave reviews from viewers, who said the first programme featuring the sensitive topic is a wake-up call for the public facing heightened Chinese military threat. In the show, "Zero Day Attack", a Chinese war plane goes missing near Taiwan. China then sends swarms of military boats and planes for a blockade as Taiwan goes on a war footing. Panic ensues on the streets of Taipei. At viewings in Taipei last week attendees have included the top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan Raymond Greene, who is director of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Taiwanese tycoon Robert Tsao, a strident critic of Beijing. The series is set to premiere on August 2 in Taiwan, followed by its Japanese release on Amazon Prime Video. "Presenting such a situation (of conflict) can lead to more discussion about what we should do if it really turns into reality one day," said Blair Yeh, a 35-year-old engineer, after watching the first episode in the Taipei premier last week. The premise of "Zero Day Attack" is a topic that has for years been considered too sensitive for many Taiwan filmmakers and television show creators, who fear losing access to the lucrative Chinese entertainment market. More than half of the show's crew asked to remain anonymous on the crew list, and some people including a director pulled out of the production at the last minute, its showrunner Cheng Hsin Mei told Reuters. But as China steps up military threats, including at least six rounds of major war games in the past five years and daily military activities close to Taiwan, the upcoming drama confronts the fear by setting the 10-episode series around a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The drama focuses on several scenarios Taiwan might face in the days leading up to a Chinese attack, including a global financial collapse, the activation of Chinese sleeper agents and panicked residents trying to flee the island. "Without freedom, Taiwan is not Taiwan," the actor who plays a fictional Taiwan president says in a televised speech, urging unity after declaring war on China, in the show's trailer. The live broadcast then gets abruptly cut off, replaced by a feed of a Chinese state television anchor calling for Taiwanese to surrender and to report "hidden pro-independence activists" to Chinese soldiers after their landing in Taiwan. "We've been comfortable for a long time now," said viewer Leon Yu, 43-year-old semiconductor industry professional, adding Taiwan's freedom and democracy must be kept. "There's still a lot of people out there burying their head in the sand and don't want to face the dangers of the present."
