wage adjustments 結果共8筆

A recent survey in Taiwan indicates a pressing issue with office workers finding their wages insufficient due to rising living and dining costs, highlighting the need for economic adjustments.

EVA Air, a Taiwanese airline, has announced a record six-month year-end bonus, the highest since its establishment. The bonus will also be distributed to its subsidiaries, including airport services, sky kitchens, and aviation technologies. In addition, EVA Air plans to adjust salaries for employees in 2024, with ground and cabin crew members seeing an average adjustment of NT$5,000 and pilots receiving adjustments ranging from NT$11,000 to NT$20,000 based on their position. However, this announcement comes amidst potential strike action by EVA Air pilots, leading to concerns that the wage increase announcements are an attempt to pacify them. The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union has emphasized the importance of fair distribution of year-end bonuses and salary increases regardless of the proposed pilot action. Rival airlines Starlux and China Airlines have also announced their year-end bonuses, with Starlux providing a one-month bonus and an approved salary increase of NT$2,000, and China Airlines reportedly planning to distribute a three-month bonus (although the union is demanding five months’ worth). In the marine transportation industry, YangMing Marine Transport Corporation has scaled down its year-end bonus from 13 months last year to two months this year due to a downturn in the shipping industry. The shipping corporations’ lower year-end bonuses are attributed to the ＂revenge-travel boom＂ post-pandemic. Other industries with high year-end bonuses include finance, semiconductor, and construction, with 1.83, 1.38, and 1.23 months respectively.

A survey by Cathay Financial Holdings reveals a rise in Taiwan’s economic confidence, with the outlook index turning positive and stock market optimism rebounding. The December survey shows that 70% of the population expects the economic growth rate to exceed 2% in 2024, while 55% anticipate the inflation rate to remain above 2%. These expectations differ slightly from projections by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics (DGBAS), which forecasts a 3.35% economic growth rate and an inflation rate of 1.64% for 2024. The DGBAS data suggests that people may be more conservative about economic expansion and anticipate higher inflation. Additionally, expectations for salary adjustments have improved compared to 2022, with 45.9% of those surveyed predicting wage increases. Of these, 9.2% believe raises will exceed 3%, and 47.6% expect monthly regular wages to stay the same. Taiwan’s current situation confidence index has climbed from -23.2 in November to -3.0 in December, while the future outlook confidence index has improved from -9.1 to 3.6, signaling growing optimism about Taiwan’s upcoming economic climate.

Discover the latest insights from Taiwan’s job market, including the widening income gap, low salary increase expectations for 2024, and varying pay trends across industries.

The Legislative Yuan has passed the Minimum Wage Bill in Taiwan, which requires employers to meet minimum wage standards when settling wages with employees. Noncompliance with this law could result in fines of up to NT＄1.5 million and public disclosure of the offender’s name. The new legislation mandates the inclusion of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as one of the key references when determining minimum wage, linking wage adjustments more closely with the cost of living. Previously, adjustments to the basic wage were governed by lesser regulations - the Deliberation Regulations for Basic Wage, which are merely administrative orders and do not guarantee annual wage increases. Labor Minister Hsu Ming-chun welcomed the passage of this legislation, expressing gratitude to labor and employer groups, scholar experts, and legislators from all parties for their support. President Tsai Ing-wen had initially proposed the elevation of the Minimum Wage from an administrative order to the force of law in her 2016 policy plan, but it took seven years for the draft to make its way through the legislative process.

The New Power Party (NPP) has called for stricter regulations on minimum labor wages, proposing that manufacturers who violate laws should be banned from government procurement. The NPP emphasizes equal representation in decision-making, with a ＂1:1:1＂ ratio of labor, capital, and government-academic parties. They argue that adjustments to the minimum wage should not fall below the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth rate, linking wage increases to inflation and cost of living adjustments. NPP Chairwoman Claire Wang advocates for strict penalties, including adding violators to a government procurement blacklist. The NPP’s draft is inspired by France’s minimum wage laws, aiming to protect workers’ living standards in the face of rising costs.

Taiwan’s average regular earnings for employed workers increased by 2.49% from January to October, reaching NT$45,441. However, this growth is the lowest in the past three years, with total earnings, including bonuses and other irregular income, only up by 1.53%. The average monthly real wage slightly increased by 0.06% to NT$41,370, while the average total real wage decreased by 0.87% to NT$53,960, the first decline in seven years. This decline is attributed to a decrease in year-end bonuses following a cooling economy and a decrease in exports. Despite an overall increase in employment of 10,000 workers compared to last year, the manufacturing industry saw a significant drop of 27,000 employees due to economic adjustments. In October, the average regular wage was NT$45,564, up 0.13% from the previous month and 2.31% year-on-year. Part-time workers’ average hourly regular earnings increased marginally to NT$200, reflecting a 1.01% year-on-year gain. While industries such as arts, entertainment, and leisure services, as well as real estate, experienced wage increases, sectors like computer, electronic, and optical product manufacturing saw significant decreases in total wages by 18.54%. The employment numbers in manufacturing have been impacted by export decline, with an increase of 10,000 employed workers from January to October. The industrial sector saw a decrease of 0.63%, while the service sector grew by 0.67%. Accommodation and food services experienced a growth of 13,000 jobs, arts, entertainment, and leisure services saw an upsurge of 7,000, but manufacturing was hit with a reduction of 27,000 employees.

Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislator Lai Hsiang-ling has called for the inclusion of a formula in the Minimum Wage Act to guarantee that wage adjustments are not lower than the inflation rate. Meanwhile, New Power Party legislator Chiu Hsien-chih has demanded that representatives from the Ministry of Labor (MOL) be involved in the wage deliberation committee and that evaluation reports be made public before meetings. Lai has expressed concern about the lack of changes in the current draft of the Minimum Wage Act and the limited number of academic representatives on the committee. She has proposed increasing the number of labor representatives and considering factors such as the consumer price index annual increase rate, previous year levels, rent, and employment dependency ratios in annual wage adjustments. Lai has also suggested barring non-compliant small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from participating in government tenders.