Average monthly take-home pay rose to NT$41,110 in September, up 2.48 percent from a year earlier, as a stable economy allowed firms to raise salaries, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The monthly figure was the second-highest for the month of September, thanks to a stable job market and the distribution of Mid-Autumn Festival compensation, DGBAS Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) told a media briefing.
It does not factor in overtime pay and performance bonuses, which averaged NT$6,467 in September, Pan said.
Total compensation averaged NT$47,577, an increase of 3.85 percent from a year earlier, the statistics agency said in a report.
Companies supplying electricity and gas offered the highest monthly take-home pay at NT$65,396, followed by financial firms at NT$60,430, and companies in the information technology and telecommunication sectors at NT$57,278, it said.
The agency is studying the possibility of releasing median income numbers based on tax income and health insurance data, as online job banks show that more than 3 million workers have difficulty making ends meet, meaning they earn less than the average wage, Pan said.
MULLING CHANGES
“The agency is mulling methodology changes to conduct the wage survey through use of labor insurance, personal income and pension figures,” Pan said.
The agency relies on data provided by companies in different sectors and has no access to further breakdowns, Pan said.
Critics have long said that high-income earners push up the average wage, which is untenable for most workers.
The Legislative Yuan last week passed a bill that requires companies to disclose wage figures in recruitment ads if they are lower than NT$40,000 a month, instead of using the term “negotiable.”
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