Taiwan officially entered a Level 3 Alert on May 19 after the rapid escalation of the COVID-19 epidemic. Although there were occasional reports of workers employed by Taiwanese circuit board manufacturers becoming infected and a cluster infection in a foreign labor dormitory at a Miaoli electronics factory, fortunately, the epidemic has not yet resulted in the risk of factory closures and broken supply chains. With Taiwan's epidemic Level 3 Alert in effect for more than a month, the “coexistence” of the industry and the epidemic has become a fact of life, compounded by the fact that the supply and demand of raw materials have continued from last year to the present, and is still plaguing the industry. However, with the continued demand for high-performance computing and automotive electronics, and the “stay-at-home economy” resulting from the epidemic, according to TPCA data, the revenue of listed Taiwanese PCB companies grew at an annual rate of 16.8% in May 2021. The total revenue of listed PCB material-related companies grew to a remarkable rate of over 70% in the same month.
          According to IDC, PC sales (including desktops/laptops/workstations) in Taiwan in the first quarter of 2021 totaled 601,000 units, with an annual growth rate of 8.3%. With the sudden rise of the epidemic in Taiwan in May, the demand for PCs for home office and distance learning is expected to increase exponentially again in the second quarter, driven by the demand for home office and distance learning. In addition, according to the May report on the export value index and manufacturing production index released by the Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, both indexes hit record highs for the same month of the year, with an annual increase of 38.6% and 17.2% respectively. In comparison, Taiwan's PCB industry saw revenue growth of 16.8% annually and 1.06% monthly in May. Despite the impact of the ongoing epidemic, the gradual buildup and transition to 5G, coupled with the U.S. infrastructure plan, growth in demand for high-performance computing, automotive electronics and other products, as well as the stay-at-home economy, are expected to boost export orders and continue production momentum of Taiwan's manufacturing industry. For Taiwan’s PCB industry, exports of FCBs and PCBs in May also had an annual growth rate of 3.8% and 19.6%, respectively, indicating that the production output was not affected by the epidemic. It is believed that with the strong demand for global 5G equipment and end-user products, the future of Taiwan's circuit board industry is still promising and will continue to drive the positive development of the raw materials and equipment industry.
          According to the results of a sample survey conducted by the TPCA in mid-May, up to 80% of its members replied that they strictly implement health management monitoring within their companies, prohibit employees from performing off-site work on the client’s premises, and suspended physical classes and meetings, instead of focusing on online solutions to enforce social distancing. More than 70% of the company members have initiated group work shifts or remote work measures. However, since the circuit board industry is labor-intensive, except for indirect staff who can work from home, production line staff still need to go to the site for duty. According to the survey, the production line still needs at least 60-70% of manpower to maintain operations. Since it is impossible for the manufacturing industry to work at home with all employees, in addition to the basic separation and alternate shift practices, companies have also made reference to the practices of manufacturing industries in other countries during last year's pandemic outbreak, such as reducing contact between staff in fixed areas of work, or where permitted by law, reducing the number of days of attendance but extending the number of working hours to achieve the practice of reducing the number of days of attendance but maintaining production without reducing working hours. As for the effective management of foreign workers, according to the latest Ministry of Labor revised guidelines for foreign workers, it is mandatory to standardize measures such as ensuring the use of work and living areas should be separated into alternate time slots. At the same time, migrant workers from different employers should not be mixed or housed on the same premises, and cooperate with the government to implement quick screening and strengthen the protection network against epidemic outbreaks.
          Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the world, and a series of lockdown measures by various countries not only caused great turmoil to the global electronics supply chain and fundamentally impacted the economic growth of various countries, but also allowed Taiwan's circuit board industry to diversify its products and strategic production & development roadmap. As of today, Taiwan is still in the Level 3 Alert, and personnel deployment and production management are facing unprecedented tests and challenges. The only way to resolve the crisis is to demonstrate the resilience of Taiwan enterprises, build up a comprehensive talent training program, and strengthen the digitalization of the industry and smart manufacturing. With these strategies in place, COVID-19 is not only a crisis towards the industry but also an opportunity for change and transformation.