Thu, Dec 04, 2008 page11

• Employees stick to jobs as economy slows down

  ‘SAVING THE RICE BOWLS’ As many as 76 percent of respondents in a recent 104 Job Bank poll said they had become much more timid in seeking career change

  • STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
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  Fewer salaried workers have been changing jobs amid the economic sluggishness, while those who have recently changed jobs have found they are being paid less than they earned at their previous job, an online job bank said yesterday.

  Chiu Wen-jen (邱文仁), a supervisor at 104 Job Bank (104 人力銀行), said the number of office workers who intended to change jobs this year had declined 14 percent from last year, quoting the results of a recent survey by the firm.

  About 30 percent of those who succeeded in changing jobs in the past three months found that their starting salaries in their new companies was lower, by an average of 14.3 percent, than their previous salary, Chiu said.

  He said the bleak business climate had reduced people’s willingness to change jobs, with 30.4 percent of respondents choosing to remain at their job to “save their rice bowls,” double the figure recorded last year.

  A high of 76 percent of respondents said they had become much more timid in making changes in the face of the economic downturn, Chiu said.

  Of those who sought to change jobs, a great majority mentioned failure of their current salaries to meet their expectations or reaching their promotion ceiling as reasons for their decision, Chiu said.

  The poll found that employees in the tourism, mass communication and manufacturing sectors were keenest to change jobs, as those have been the hardest-hit by the economic downturn and heavy layoffs are most likely to occur before the end of the year, Chiu said.

  The poll also found that employees in the financial services and high tech sectors — two fields that are traditionally highly coveted — had become increasingly restless and more inclined to change jobs, Chiu said.

  More than 60 percent of employees surveyed in these two sectors said they wanted to change careers, Chiu said, adding that of these, about 30 percent in the financial services sector wanted to move to other service industries.

  Less then 20 percent wanted to remain in their current employment, Chiu said.

  Taiwan’s unemployment rate in October hit a five-year monthly high of 4.37 percent, one of a number of indicators reflecting the country’s weakening labor market as a result of the global economic crisis, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
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