At a time when it is increasingly common for the phrases “low wages” and “young people” to appear in the same sentence, Taiwanese should be thinking of innovative ways to tackle the problem.
Since former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration introduced the poorly devised and controversial “22K policy” in 2009, which drastically dragged down the average starting salary for young people, politicians have sought to come up with policies to address the problem.
The so-called “22K policy” refers to a government-sponsored scheme that offered a monthly salary of NT$22,000 to college graduates who accepted a one-year internship at corporations between 2009 and 2011.
Despite having different names, the politicians’ solutions have essentially shared similar aims: facilitate industrial transformation and encourage corporations to offer pay hikes. The question is how?
How does anyone encourage often selfish business owners to willingly give a larger share of their profits to their employees?
What the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) did on Wednesday was a good start.
At noon on Wednesday, DPP management treated all of its staff to a meal at McDonald’s outlets and told the media all about it, a move designed to publicly support the fast-food chain after it decided to offer an across-the-board pay raise to its 18,000 employees.
The pay hike was partly to conform with the government’s new policy to raise the minimum hourly wage to NT$140 on Monday, but the fast-food giant went the extra mile and decided to increase all its staff’s hourly pay by NT$7, regardless of whether their initial pay was greater than NT$133.
The DPP’s move might seem like a publicity stunt — and by all accounts it was — but it could help start a new culture of rewarding employee-friendly corporations, especially those who are willing to open up their wallets.
It is nice to see politicians leading such an effort, but the public could play a huge role too.
Most of the time, Taiwanese are divided on a lot of issues, but they are oddly united when they want to punish companies by boycotting their products.
In October 2014, a widespread boycott was initiated by the public against Ting Hsin International Group after some of its subsidiaries became embroiled in food scandals.
Sales of Lin Feng Ying brand milk — the most renowned product of foodmaker Wei Chuan Foods Corp, a Ting Hsin subsidiary — reportedly dropped by 20 percent only days after the boycott began.
Imagine the kind of effect such solidarity would have if it were channeled toward rewarding and supporting companies that treat their employees well. Such an effort would likely spur other enterprises to follow suit.
For years, Taiwanese have lamented their stagnantly low salaries. Instead of relying solely on the government to fix the problem, maybe it is time they consider taking things into their own hands and try to change how business owners treat their staff by making conscious choices when buying anything from food to electronics.
Change might not come quickly, but it is a good start, and one that could provide a much-needed boost to the government’s efforts at putting more money in people’s pockets.
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