Nearly 70 percent of employees worry that they could be laid off ahead of next year’s Lunar New Year holiday amid concerns over an economic slowdown at home and around the world, a survey conducted by online job bank yes123 showed yesterday.
The job bank surveyed 1,366 employees aged 20 and above, and found that 67.8 percent were concerned over losing their jobs ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
In Taiwan, employers tend to draft new workforce plans before the Lunar New Year, which falls in either January or February, and then execute them after the holiday.
Next year’s Lunar New Year holiday is to start on Jan. 27 and run through Feb. 1.
The job bank said the concerns have become more intense as media reports on economic weakness cause employers to downsize or shut down operations.
Yes123 said that concerns over being laid off become more pronounced at the end of each month in the fourth quarter of the year, as indicated by 41.1 percent of the respondents who said they were worried that they might lose their jobs this month.
About 37.3 percent were worried in the second half of the months in the first quarter, the job bank said.
It said that 59 percent of the respondents were worried they would be asked to take a pay cut.
The survey found that 43.6 percent of respondents were willing to do more work to keep their jobs, while 33.4 percent said they would work longer hours.
In addition, 31.9 percent said they would like on-the-job training to improve their work skills, while 26.8 percent said they would agree to being transferred to another department or change their position to hold on to their jobs, the survey showed.
In the event of being laid off, 85.4 percent of respondents said they would apply for unemployment benefits, while 81.7 percent said they would try to learn new skills to find another job.
Of those considering learning new skills, the survey found that 24.9 percent were interested in becoming a chef and 22.9 percent in becoming a baker, while 19.4 percent wanted to learn how to set up and manage a Web site and 17.6 percent said they would like to learn how to make beverages.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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