Taipei, March 10, 2010 (CENS)--A recent survey by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) shows that over one-fourth of polled employers on the island plan to hire more workers by the end of April this year to meet growing demand resulting from the economic recovery.

Some 26% of the surveyed say they plan to hire more workers by the end of April, with 62% may keep existing workforce, 5% planning to downsize, and 5.8% expressing no prediction. This means Taiwan`s firms may hire 69,000 more workers by the end of April, reduce employment by 11,000, resulting in net increase of 58,000 workers, the highest of its kind in three years.

H.L. Chang, spokesman of the 1111 Job Bank in Taipei, says that many enterprises in both traditional and high-tech sectors plan to expand to meet growing orders. Some have already recruited more workers and some are planning to follow suit.

In March of 2009 Taiwan`s employees totaled some 10.22 million, gradually growing to 10.39 million at the end of January this year. Compared to last December, the number of jobs added by traditional industries doubled in January, with that in the IT and tech sectors surging by 80%.

In terms of prospective recruitment, the top three sectors are manufacturing (33,000 workers), wholesale & retail (8,400), and support service (4,700). Besides, financial & insurance industry plan to add 3,400 persons and IT& telecommunication industry by 2,200 persons.

(by Judy Li)