Average monthly take-home pay in June rose 2.38 percent from a year earlier to NT$41,782, while the number of overtime hours dropped as the economy slowed, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
Most local firms raised employee wages last year, leading to an annual increase in average wages this year, DGBAS Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) told a media briefing in Taipei.
Total compensation — including performance-based bonuses and overtime — stood at NT$48,286 per month, a slight decline of 0.44 percent from a year earlier, the agency said in a report.
Overtime hours have decreased for nine consecutive months, with a cumulative retreat of 1.3 hours for the first six months, compared with the previous year, it said.
That is the steepest fall in six years and consistent with an economic slowdown, Pan said.
The drop is more evident in total working hours, which amounted to 159.6 hours, a decline of 5.9 hours from a year earlier, the agency said.
Real-estate brokers received the highest total pay at NT$76,484 in June, Pan said, as some real-estate companies posted strong showings.
Employees of electricity and gas suppliers had the highest regular take-home pay at NT$65,202 and overall compensation of NT$75,523, the report said.
That is a significant drop from a year earlier, because the firms distributed less performance-based rewards, Pan said.
Economic uncertainty curtailed demand for oil products and raw materials, and weighed on their prices, the agency said.
Lower performance-based compensation also affected employees in the electronics and financial sectors, Pan said.
In the first six months, the average take-home wage rose 2.32 percent to NT$41,668 per month, while total pay increased 1.61 percent to NT$56,870, the lowest in three years, the agency said.
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