More than half of the nation's working women are angry about job discrimination, saying they don't receive equal pay for doing the same work as men, a recent survey showed yesterday.
"About 52 percent of the working women in Taiwan said they had received unequal salary treatment in the past 12 months," said Rocky Yang (
Job Bank conducted the online survey of 4,000 working women between Feb. 19 and Feb. 24. The survey focused on job satisfaction as well as the job environment.
"For decades it has been a common phenomenon in Taiwan that employers don't treat women as equal to men, especially in terms of salary" Yang said.
He made these remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony, held by the DPP and 104 Job Bank yesterday, in honor of International Women's Day on March 8.
The survey shows inequality often starts with a woman's first job. The average monthly salary last year for starting positions for women was NT$25,535, nearly NT$5,000 lower than the NT$30,368 men in the same position received, the survey reported.
One woman said the way her company operates is a typical example of gender discrimination.
"It's unfair ... monthly salaries that male colleagues receive are about NT$10,000 higher than what I get, even though we are doing the same job," said Hsieh Hsuen-hui (
The 41-year-old mother of two added that her boss believes men should be paid higher wages since they are more flexible when it comes to overseas business travel or after-work socializing.
"We have tried to express our dissatisfaction, but our boss says those are the rules of the game and anyone who doesn't agree can just leave," Hsieh said.
Another human-resource professional said the unequal treatment is most prevalent in the manufacturing industry.
"Men are always regarded as more valuable than women in manufacturing companies," said Hsu Hung-chang (徐宏彰), an executive at 1111 Job Bank (1111人力銀行).
Some top manufacturing executives still believe men are the breadwinners and a woman's obligation is to take care of her family, and therefore men are entitled to higher pay, Hsu said.
However, Yang said the situation is beginning to change. He said women working in the service sector are expected to get more equal treatment in the near future.
Generally speaking, women are more appreciated in the service sector and many executives in service companies are female, he said.
Yang said that more than 60 percent of the nation's business activities fall into the service sector, while the manufacturing industry accounts for 30 percent, a significant drop from 50 percent in late 1990s.
The survey also showed that nearly 60 percent of respondents are hesitant to have children, for fear that family responsibilities will hurt their careers.
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