Taiwan's electronics firms report highest OT in July due to AI demand

Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) Taiwan's electronics component industry reported the highest ever overtime hours worked by their employees for July due to strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

Data compiled by the DGBAS showed the average overtime hours worked by Taiwanese electronics component suppliers' employees hit 27.7 hours in July, the highest level for the month since records began in 1980.

Boosted by the electronics component industry, the average overtime working hours reported by the entire manufacturing sector hit the highest level in 15 years at 17.1 hours for July, the data indicated.

Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the agency's Census Department, said the increase in overtime working hours in the local tech sector was evidence of a strong export performance at a time when emerging technologies such as AI and high performance computing devices pushed up global demand.

In addition, Tan said the efforts of international brands to introduce their new products further boosted demand for tech gadgets.

In July, Taiwan's exports hit an all-time high, up 42 percent from a year earlier to US$56.68 billion with electronic components industry posting US$18.42 billion in outbound sales, up 34.1 percent from a year earlier, led by semiconductor supplier.

Tan said the growth in overtime hours worked in the manufacturing sector also came as foreign buyers rushed to place orders ahead of schedule to avoid U.S. tariffs.

U.S. blanket tariffs, including a 20 percent level faced by Taiwan, went into effect on Aug. 7.

While the local manufacturing sector received a boost from AI and foreign buyers' rush orders in July, the strength was uneven, Tan said, indicating old economy industries were left behind.

In July, the average working hours in Taiwan totaled 180.4 hours, up 7.1 hours from a month earlier and also up 5.0 hours from a year earlier as the number of working days increased, according to the DGBAS.

The average overtime working hours in the country in July totaled 8.5 hours, down 0.1 hours from a month earlier but up 0.1 hours from a year earlier, the DGBAS said.

In the first seven months of this year, the average working hours in Taiwan totaled 167.3 hours, up 0.6 hours from a year earlier, while the average overtime working hours rose 0.4 hours to 8.7 hours, the DGBAS added.

The DGBAS said the number of people employed in Taiwan totaled 8.54 million as of the end of July, up 40,000 or 0.46 percent from the end of June as the manufacturing sector added 9,000 new employees, the highest among all sectors, ahead of the retail/wholesale and hospitality and food/beverage segments, which added 8,000 each.