The Taiwanese people have worked too hard, and over 75 percent of the respondents in a survey think that they have excessive workloads, the local media reported yesterday.
According to the results of the survey -- jointly conducted by CHEERS magazine and the udnjob.com Web site between Aug. 7 and 13 -- almost 30 percent of the 1,383 respondents work more than 62 hours a week on average.
Their real working hours are about 20 hours a week more than the regular hours stipulated by the government.
In other words, the respondents work an average of four hours overtime every day.
The results of the survey also show that as many as one fourth of the Taiwanese people often need to work overtime on weekends or holidays.
Some answered that they work longer in order to improve their competitiveness as well as to learn new skills, while others said that they work overtime due to their fear of being laid off.
Meanwhile, the survey challenges the credibility of the government's labor report, which was published by the Cabinet's Council of Labor Affairs last July.
According to the report, only 11.3 percent of Taiwan's enterprises expected their employees to work overtime.
The report concluded that the Taiwanese people work an average of 5.32 hours of overtime a week (about one hour a day) -- which is obviously very far removed from the real situation, according to the survey yesterday.
The survey conductors say that the government has ignored the fact that many Taiwanese people often take their work home, and therefore underestimated the amount of extra hours people work.
According to the survey results, those in the research and development field work the longest hours.
As many as 42.9 percent of them work over 20 hours of overtime a week, and about 20.3 percent of them work more than 30 hours extra a week.
The results of the survey tally with a report published by the International Institute for Management Development last year.
According to the institute's annual World Competitiveness Yearbook, the Taiwanese people work the longest hours in the world, with an average of about 2,282 working hours a year.
This number is much higher than that of other economies analyzed, which work an average of 1,925 hours per year. In other words, the Taiwanese people annually work 357 more hours than other people.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS