A new survey found that more than 90 percent of college and technical institute students have worked part-time, including 38 percent who said they face pressure to pay off debts or student loans.
The poll, conducted by online job bank yes123, found that 47 percent of respondents work part-time to “pay living costs” or to “pay tuition” (43 percent), while others do so to “get work experience” (38 percent), “earn some savings” (37 percent) or “help with family finances” (18 percent).
An overwhelming majority of respondents said they have plans to work after school resumes later this month (80 percent), including 84 percent who attend private schools and 73 percent who attend public institutions.
Among those looking for employment, 40 percent said that they plan to work at least two part-time jobs.
The survey also found that the average respondent planned to work at least 61.7 hours per month, or at least two hours of work on top of going to classes and doing coursework.
Respondents’ average expected monthly income was NT$18,697, but the survey found that actual average monthly income was NT$17,136.
According to the responses, 55 percent of respondents made between NT$10,000 and NT$20,000 a month, and 21 percent said they made less than NT$10,000.
For the 38 percent of respondents who said they worked to pay off student loans, the average amount of their loans is NT$288,000.
The most popular part-time jobs are home tutoring (44 percent), exhibition sales personnel (37 percent), outdoor modeling (35 percent), freelance translation or design (35 percent) and promotional modeling for alcoholic beverages (34 percent).
Twenty-six percent of respondents said they would volunteer to be medical or pharmaceutical research subjects, while 18 percent would work as service staff at bars and clubs, the survey found.
The survey was conducted from Aug. 17 to Thursday last week and had 1,300 valid responses, yes123 said.
Job bank spokesperson Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said students looking for part-time jobs should be alert for common scams by unscrupulous employers, such as docking pay without cause, requiring employees to buy company products, and verbal or physical harassment.
If supervisors or managers refuse to pay the minimum wage, fail to enroll employees in labor insurance or attempt to avoid paying overtime, employees should immediately report their bosses to corporate headquarters or to the government’s labor protection authorities, Yang said.
More students in higher and technical education are working part-time to help with family finances, Yang said, adding that if the economy slows further, the government should be aware that a substantial number of students might feel they have to quit school.
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