Graduates face an uphill battle in the hunt for jobs

As for general workers, 65 percent have expressed an interest in obtaining a position in China, but only six percent actually applied for work across the Strait. It indicates that the public lacks information concerning the Chinese job market.

TT: One of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign promises was to enact a five-day workweek, but the effort was later stopped after encountering strong opposition from the business community. Why don't Taiwanese workers unite to demand a work schedule on par with the advanced nations of the world?

Yang: In general, I believe most companies have already carried out the five-day workweek policy after the government passed a bill cutting people's weekly work hours from the previous 44 to 42. A minority of companies may still demand more than 42 hours if they are still not able to maintain the same production volume on the new schedule.

In this case, laborers can ask for overtime wages or refuse the extra workload. As for why they do not do so, I think partly from fears that they may be dismissed since they can hardly bear the risk of losing their jobs during such tough times.

Another reason may be the extra work hours are within workers' tolerance.

In fact, it usually takes two to three years for employers to fully comply with new policies after they go into effect. In the absence of pressure from laborers' unions, the government usually won't actively intervene in disputes between labor and industry.