Amid a global downturn in the semiconductor industry, Taiwanese giant TSMC announced on Saturday that it will hire more than 6,000 staff in 2023.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, the world's largest contract chipmaker, had warned of a rare revenue drop at the beginning of the year. On January 12, TSMC said it expected first quarter revenue to drop by at least 5 percent, compared with a record-beating 78 percent rise in profits the global chip leader posted in the fourth quarter.
The Taiwanese chip behemoth also said it was on course to cutting annual capital expenditure as well, as it sees a shrinking of tech sector demand for its advanced chips. TSMC specifically saw a weakening of demand from major client Apple in the near term.
Beating Downturn
It is in this context that the aggressive hiring plan surprises industry observers. TSMC is looking for "young engineers with associates, bachelor's, masters's or doctorate degrees in electrical engineering or software-related fields, in cities all across Taiwan," Reuters reported.
The dull view of the market offered by TSMC, which is Asia's most-valuable listed firm, was caused by the sharp downturn in the global technology sector marked by falling purchasing power the world across owing to record-high inflation.
However, TSMC said it believed that things would turn around in the second half of the year. "We forecast the semiconductor cycle to bottom sometime in first half and see a recovery in second half 2023," TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said.
Another setback TSMC faced last month was the sale of shares worth $3.7 billion by investing maven Warren Buffett. The billionaire investor surprisingly sold shares in semiconductor giant, fueling speculation on the Wall Street and driving the shares of the Taiwanese chip firm down.
According to a regulatory filing, Berkshire cut its position in TSMC by a whopping 86 percent to 8.29 million American depositary shares.
