Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), one of the nation’s leading conglomerates, yesterday said it was raising wages by 4 percent starting this month.
The wage hike is equivalent to an average pay increase of about NT$2,100 (US$68.82) per month, and with a workforce of 33,000, it would cost the group an additional NT$69 million a month, it said.
The group decided to raise salaries by more than 3 percent for a fourth straight year after meeting with representatives of company unions on Monday.
FPG chairman William Wong (王文淵) said the group was happy to take good care of its employees by providing better benefits, but he also told union representatives he hoped employees would support the group’s sustainable development.
The unions also asked management to distribute additional bonuses as a way to compensate workers for their contribution to the group.
Wong said he would discuss the request with the group’s four major entities: Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台塑化纖) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化).
Wong in February said that the conglomerate is likely to issue year-end bonuses early next year equivalent to at least six months of pay — the same as this year.
The payout to employees early this year also included an additional NT$22,000 bonus, but Wong has not made any commitment on whether that would be increased.
In the first half of this year, the four major entities posted a record combined net profit of about NT$130 billion, up 37.8 percent from a year earlier, because of rising product prices, driven by steadily increasing crude oil prices.
Analysts said the group is expected to continue to see improving profitability in the second half of the year as the peak season for the petrochemical sector approaches.
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