Overtime hours in electronics firms hit June record on AI boom

Taipei, Aug. 11 (CNA) Overtime hours at Taiwan's electronics companies reached a record high for June since records began in 1980 as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom continued to drive global demand, according to data released Monday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

The DGBAS said employees in the electronic components industry worked an average of 28.7 hours of overtime in June, well above the national average of 9.1 hours across the industrial and service sectors.

Average overtime in the computer and optoelectronics industry also reached a record high for June at 17.7 hours, the highest since 1980, the data showed.

The DGBAS said sustained global enthusiasm for AI has driven a surge in orders for Taiwanese technology companies, prompting employers to rely more heavily on overtime. It added that overtime hours are a barometer of activity in the sector.

In June, average overtime in the manufacturing sector stood at 18.0 hours, up 0.5 hours from a year earlier but down 0.3 hours from May. Across the industrial and service sectors, average overtime totaled 9.1 hours, up 0.5 hours year on year but down 0.2 hours from the previous month.

For the first half of the year, average overtime nationwide stood at 9.1 hours, up 0.4 hours from a year earlier, while average overtime in the manufacturing sector rose 0.8 hours year on year to 17.8 hours.

Average monthly working hours in the industrial and service sectors totaled 163.1 hours in the January-June period, down 2.0 hours from a year earlier. In June alone, average working hours rose 5.0 hours from May to 171.2 hours, the DGBAS said.

Employment in Taiwan's industrial and service sectors totaled 8.58 million at the end of June, up 10,000, or 0.12 percent, from the end of May. Manufacturing reported the largest monthly increase, adding 4,000 jobs.

Within manufacturing, employment trends varied in June: the number of workers in the electronics component industry rose 0.60 percent from a month earlier and the number of employees in the computer and optoelectronics industry rose 0.27 percent, while employment in the rubber and plastics products industry fell 0.37 percent and employment in the plastics industry declined 0.13 percent.

Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the DGBAS Census Department, said employment declines in some traditional industries indicated that conditions in those sectors still needed time to improve.