Nearly 70 percent of employees said they felt financial pressure ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday because they were planning to give red envelopes to their parents, a survey released on Friday last week by online 1111 Job Bank (1111人力銀行) found.
Employees are planning to give NT$9,388 on average to their parents or in-laws for the Lunar New Year, the survey found.
The figure accounts for about one-quarter of the NT$38,250 average monthly salary as reported by the respondents, the job bank said.
About 23 percent of respondents said they are planning to give their parents more than NT$10,000; 30 percent are planing to give between NT$5,000 and NT$10,000; 23 percent are to give between NT$3,000 and NT$5,000; and 22 percent are planning to give less than NT$3,000.
People working in the information sector appeared the most generous, the job bank said, as they are planning to give NT$10,516 on average, followed by the financial sector with NT$10,221.
Holiday spending is a burden on employees, the survey suggested, as 68.8 percent of respondents said that giving red envelopes has become a source of pressure.
Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they are afraid of holiday gatherings, as they do not want to be asked by their parents or relatives about work, while 37.9 percent said they do not want to be compared with their peers in a wide range of matters, including work, salaries and marriage.
The survey was conducted from Jan. 25 to Thursday last week.
FAVORITE SCHOOLS
A separate survey released by the job bank has found that universities with distinguished engineering schools are among employers’ favorites.
The poll found that employers’ favorite public university is National Taiwan University, followed by National Cheng Kung University.
National Tsing Hua University came in third, followed by National Cheng Chi University and National Chiao Tung University, according to the poll.
The tech industry is at the forefront of the nation’s economy amid the rise of artificial intelligence, financial technology, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies, 1111 Job Bank vice president Daniel Lee (李大華) said.
The tech industry is looking to hire the most workers and offers high wages for talented employees, making many of the science, technology, engineering and math-focused universities the favorite recruitment grounds of employers.
The poll found that the employers’ favorite private university is Chung Yuan Christian University, followed by Fu Jen Catholic University, Tamkang University and Feng Chia University.
The poll was conducted between Nov. 12 last year and Jan. 2.
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