About 94 percent of workers in Taiwan are considering looking for a new job, citing rigid new work rules as one of the reasons prompting them to make a change, a 1111 Job Bank (1111人力銀行) survey released yesterday showed.
The survey found that among those who expressed an interest in changing jobs over the next three months, 37 percent said their salary had fallen and welfare worsened as a result of new work rules introduced in December last year.
About 6.5 percent of those considering a job change said they had already found a new job, the survey showed.
Those who complained about the new work rules also said they were unhappy with changes in work conditions.
Some of those dissatisfied with the new work rules said they were concerned about the outlook for their employer, as the rules raised operating costs, while others said their responsibilities or work schedule had been changed due to the new regulations and they did not like the changes.
Under the new regulations that took effect in December, the maximum number of work hours was reduced from 84 hours per two weeks to 40 hours per week, with one mandatory day off and “one flexible rest day” each week.
Employers are now required to pay overtime for work carried out on the flexible day off, but many employers and employees have complained that the rigid work rules leave less leeway for more flexible work schedules, even if both sides agree.
Due to greater overtime pay, some employers now hire temporary workers to cut costs, so employees on the payroll receive lower wages.
The poll also found that 31 percent of respondents considering looking for another job said that the recovering domestic economy made them confident that they would be able to do so.
The nation’s jobless rate fell to a two-year low of 3.66 percent in May on the back of an improvement in economic fundamentals.
The government has raised its economic growth forecast for this year from 1.92 percent to 2.05 percent.
As of the end of last month, the number of job openings registered on the job bank’s online recruitment platform totaled about 510,000, the highest ever.
The survey, conducted from June 28 to Wednesday, collected 1,091 valid responses, had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.96 percentage points
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