Sharp Corp. will hire 130 midcareer workers this year, despite a general trend among consumer electronics companies to downsize amid stagnation in the information technology sector, company officials said Tuesday.
The target number of midcareer hires is 6.5 times that of usual years. Sharp has already hired 10 midcareer employees this year and will recruit the remainder from among university graduates with a background in science.
Sharp, which has seen favorable sales of liquid crystal displays and cell phones, wants to expand its business in these fields by recruiting midcareer employees.
In its spring 2003 recruitment drive, Sharp plans to hire up to 260 new graduates with science backgrounds. It also plans to hire 50 high school graduates, something it has never done in the past, the officials said.
Sharp will start producing next-generation LCDs in October 2003 and LCD televisions in May 2004.