It takes 1.94 months on average for new university graduates to find a job after they leave school, and they receive an average first-year monthly salary of NT$25,500, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The Executive Yuan released reports by the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education on the employment and average wages of graduates of bachelors’, masters and doctoral degree programs from 2010 to 2013.
According to the labor ministry, which used labor insurance records in its analysis, 44.01 percent of graduates find a job right after leaving school, while 33.59 percent do so within three months of graduation.
Chung Chin-chi (鍾錦季), who works for the labor ministry, said that people who graduated from universities in 2010 were paid about NT$25,146 per month on average in their first job.
Their salary grew to NT$33,151 after working for three-and-a-half years, which is a 30 percent increase.
New college graduates saw starting salaries of about NT$24,169 and enjoyed the same rate of increase after three years, she said.
A 30 percent rise in pay over three years is not a bad rate, even if the starting salary is low, Chung said.
Asked about the discrepancies between the ministry’s numbers and the widely held belief that new graduates are usually offered a starting salary of NT$22,000 per month, with little room for a pay hike, Chung said the ministry’s figures are “factually inferred from true data.”
According to the labor ministry’s analysis, a newly minted masters’ degree holder received an average starting salary of NT$38,395 in 2010 and three years later was earning an average of NT$45,829, while someone who earned a doctorate would start off at NT$59,318 per month and be earning NT$69,409 three years later.
Deputy Minister of Education Chen Der-hwa (陳德華) said his ministry’s numbers corresponded with those of the labor ministry, but that 30 to 40 percent of university and college graduates switch jobs within a year, with only about 30 percent staying in the same company for at least three years.
People who graduated with degrees in the medical or health-related fields were paid the most of new graduates, earning an average monthly salary of NT$52,000 and NT41,000 respectively.
Graduates with masters degrees in public administration or defense studies have the highest average monthly wage of NT$69,000, while those in the hospitality industry earn the least, just NT$35,000 per month, Chen said.
Graduates with a doctorate earned the most if they were hired by firms in the manufacturing (semiconductor) industry or the finance and insurance sectors, he said.
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