TAIPEI (TVBS News) — As business slowly resumes to pre-pandemic levels, many industries in Taiwan now face a labor shortage. To successfully recruit more talent, companies are adjusting their salary structure to attract new employees.
Take the wedding industry, for example. In 2023, businesses anticipate a recovery, looking at a nearly NT＄80 billion revenue for the year. The sector is offering salaries 10% higher than they previously offered to attract talent into the field.
Domestic consumption accounted for a large part of the GDP this past year. With increased spending in restaurants and shopping centers, the food and beverage industry is also actively trying to garner new talented workers.
Although specific industries are eager to spend on recruiting suitable personnel, according to a local job bank, currently, only 48.2% of business owners have plans on increasing employees' wages in the upcoming year, down from 58.3% last year, the lowest in 7 years.
However, 47.3% are willing to make structural changes regarding the salaries of newly recruited employees. Hua Chih-hsin, general manager at a job bank, said: "The so-called structural adjustment wage means that the company may give these new recruits more preferential conditions in addition to the original so-called basic salary.
"For example, they might provide them with more on-the-job training, or give them some new benefits, and more, to stand out in the job market," Hua added.
According to Chen Rui-chu, a labor expert, "our technology industry may take on rushed orders because after the epidemic, we will open more lines of production and we will recruit a lot of workers, so if it is just a basic salary."
"Corporations will increase it when recruiting. Otherwise, it will be hard to find suitable employees. However, the salary of the senior employees will not change," Chen added.
As suited employees are increasingly hard to find, companies throughout the country are finding ways to attract recruits. But how to retain their original staff will also be an urgent problem that companies need to address.
