At least 180,000 workers across the nation are on unpaid leave, with those in the high-tech sector the most likely to be given unpaid days off, the Council of Labor Affairs reported yesterday.
The council said the estimate is based on reports on unpaid leave practices that it received from more than 400 companies nationwide between Dec. 23 and Jan. 31.
Since last month, the council has required local enterprises to report the number of their workers on unpaid leave so it can better monitor the impact of falling exports on the labor market.
The council acknowledged that some companies may not have reported workers on unpaid leave to the council, but because the 180,000-worker estimate is similar to the result of a survey conducted last December, the council believes compliance with the reporting system is quite high.
Based on a random survey of companies with more than 200 workers in December, the council estimated that 202,000 workers were being forced to take an average of four days of unpaid leave in that month alone.
The number of workers on full or partial unpaid leave in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park has reached more than 100,000, accounting for 77 percent of the park’s total work force.
Taiwan’s high-tech, financial and conventional sectors have all been hard hit in the global economic downturn. Some companies, however, tried hard to retain their work forces, using flexible measures such as cutting salaries and putting workers on paid or unpaid leave instead of laying them off.
At a separate setting yesterday, Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), director of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of Youth Development, warned that the unemployment rate would soar when around 300,000 students graduate in June.
Ryan Wu (吳睿穎), chief operating officer of 1111 Job Bank, told a press conference held by the DPP that an online survey conducted by his organization suggested that 45 percent of college and graduate students leaving school last year were still unable to find first jobs. As around 320,000 graduated last year, Wu said his organization predicted that around 150,000 of them were still out of work.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS