Average monthly take-home pay rose 2.65 percent to NT$40,933 (US$1,328) in July, the highest for the month in 19 years, as companies raised compensation for employees amid continued economic improvement, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
“It was the eighth consecutive month that wage gains exceeded 2 percent, as firms showed more willingness to share earnings increases with their employees,” DGBAS Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) told a media briefing.
Stronger-than-expected GDP growth, which reached 3.2 percent in the first half of this year, lent support to the wage hikes, the agency said in its monthly report.
The figures did not include overtime pay, performance bonuses or other non-regular benefits, which averaged NT$10,736 in July, the agency said.
Total compensation averaged NT$51,669, as some firms distributed mid-year bonuses, Pan said.
Listed firms saw their revenues increase 8.29 percent to NT$1.93 trillion in the first half of the year, while pretax income jumped 17.48 percent to NT$1.93 trillion, government data showed.
Makers of plastic products, high-performance chips and other electronic components underpinned the growth thanks to strong demand, the agency said.
About 32 percent of firms had raised wages as of May, higher than 28.2 percent a year earlier, Pan said.
He has yet to spot turnabout signs in pay adjustments related to the trade war between the US and China, he added.
Many Taiwanese firms have operations in China and could face unfavorable trade terms if Washington expands the tariffs.
In the first seven months, take-home pay averaged NT$40,769 a month, up 2.55 percent from a year earlier, while total wages rose 4.08 percent to NT$54,892, the agency said.
Real take-home pay came in at NT$38,105 per month after factoring in the 0.88 inflation during the period, the report said.
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