Survey foresees bigger bonuses

Office workers might feel slightly disappointed as their average year-end bonus will be equivalent to 1.53 times the usual monthly salary, falling short of expectations of 1.73 months, according to a survey released by the online job bank www.9999.com.tw (汎亞人力銀行) yesterday.

Still, the amount is up by 0.07 months from last year's 1.46 months, and 84 percent of the private sector will hand out bonuses to boost morale, the survey said.

The year-end bonus champion remains the finance industry, boasting 2.59 times the usual monthly pay, followed by the import and export trade sector at 1.96 months, and the transportation sector at 1.92 months.

Thanks to economic upturn, some traditional industries have shown strong profitability this year. Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) has announced it will give a 10-month bonus. Its affiliated business entity EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) will give four-month bonuses. Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) are expected to hand out eight-month bonuses.

It is worth noting that the tourism sector, which was hard hit by the SARS epidemic last year, will see the biggest rise in bonuses this year, at 1.28 months, up from last year's 1.07 months, according to the survey, which covered 2,100 companies in 21 industries and was conducted between Dec. 6 and Dec. 22.

In another poll by the job bank, which interviewed 5,738 salaried people during the same period, 67.5 percent said they would reward themselves by spending the bonus on clothes, 62 percent would choose to buy household appliances, and 56.7 percent would follow the tradition of allocating part of their bonus to family members through red envelopes.