While the primary income for full-time workers in Taiwan is NT$37,413 (US$1,140) a month on average, 3.35 million employees, or 37.93 percent of the total number of employees, earned a monthly salary of less than NT$30,000, according to a recent report from this year’s manpower utilization survey.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) conducts the manpower utilization survey in May every year to exclude the seasonal effects of the graduation season and Lunar New Year.
According to this year’s survey, among the nation’s 8.48 million employees, the primary monthly income for full-time workers was NT$37,413 on average, an increase of NT$528 from the same period last year.
Primary income excludes non-regular income, such as year-end bonuses, performance bonuses and overtime pay.
Of the total number of employees, 5.46 million, or 64.42 percent, made a monthly salary of more than NT$30,000, an increase of 2.18 percentage points from the same period last year.
The number of employees with a monthly income of more than NT$50,000 was 1.54 million, or 18.16 percent of the total, which represents an increase of 0.09 percentage points year-on-year.
The number of those earning less than NT$30,000 declined by 2.07 percentage points year-on-year, the report said. The survey also found there were 420,000 unemployed people and that 51.7 percent of about 207,000 unemployed people who had been given job offers turned them down because they considered the pay too low.
In May, there were 11.18 million employees, including 781,000 atypical workers who were employed under temporary, part-time or outsourcing contracts, or 6.98 percent of the total, the survey found.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury