Mon, Jun 16, 2003 page11

• Graduates face an uphill battle in the hunt for jobs

  Rocky Yang, the general manager of 104 Job Bank, talked to `Taipei Times' staff reporter Jessie Ho last week about SARS, the attitudes of young workers and how laborers are adjusting to working overtime

  • By Jessie Ho / STAFF REPORTER
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  Taipei Times: Recent media reports have suggested that Asia's young adults are jumping from job to job at the drop of a hat. How does Taiwan's youth compare and what is the root of the problem?

  Rocky Yang (楊基寬): I do find that the younger generation, approximately aged 18 to 30 years, are less committed to their jobs than adults near my age. According to a survey, 47 percent of college graduates changed their jobs in the first year of work, and 83 percent did the same thing in the second year. In other words, almost every college graduate will shift jobs in the first two years after graduating. This phenomenon results from a notion that is widespread among young adults: jumping from job to job enhances a worker's value. That is, they believe their reputation will be enhanced by the company they work for. Unlike my generation, a worker's value comes from improving and succeeding in an unfavorable position. Besides a lack of loyalty, a small group of young people even put the value of their freedom ahead of achievements at work. Some would rather be roadside vendors than rank-and-file staff in a company. The number in this segment is growing in Taiwan, but not significantly compared to the massive working class. These people will find themselves not easily accepted by companies, and they will miss the time to accumulate work experience and skills, too.

  TT: With unemployment hovering around 5 percent for more than a year, what is your forecast for the jobless rate after university students graduate and for the rest of the year?

  

  Rocky Yang, general manager of the 104 Job Bank talks about how SARS has affected the job market in Taiwan.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Yang: Unfortunately, I have to say that the unemployment rate will rise to 5.5 percent, a record high, in June after university students graduate, and linger between 5 and 5.5 percent for the next half of the year. First, Taiwan's economy has been dwindling following the world economic downturn in 2001. Second, industrial sectors have moved west to China for cheap labor and resources and this further increases the jobless number. Furthermore, the recent SARS outbreak cut around 10 percent of jobs that are usually offered after graduation. With the jobs-to-applicant ratio getting smaller, a jobless rate hovering from 5.5 percent to 5 percent is expected.

  TT: Who are the winners and losers in finding a job this year?

  Yang: Judging from the positions available, job applicants with science and engineering backgrounds will score better than literature majors, as 50 percent of the job opportunities are related to science and engineering professions. But on average, 50 percent of job seekers vie for 25 percent of the administration posts available. If discussing this question in terms of prerequisites to have in hand when searching for, or keeping a job, I have a "seven up" theory. First, bilingual ability is needed to compete in the international community; second, durability like a salesperson will help weather the harshest environments; third, computer-programming skills are important; fourth, financial management skills will promote workers into higher positions; fifth, insight into the Chinese market will be valuable as China's economy has the fastest growth nowadays; sixth, a favorable personality will help an applicant land a job. With the above six conditions, along with a worker's own major specialty, he or she will always be a hot product in the job market.

  TT: A recent survey reported that the majority of engineers are unhappy with their pay. Are their claims justified and what percentage of Taiwanese agree with the perception that they are underpaid at their jobs?

  Yang: According to a recent Gallup poll, 70 percent of the nation's workers were unhappy with their jobs. Half of the group attributes this dissatisfaction to being underpaid. However, I think Taiwan's workers are not underpaid. The false perception of being underpaid results from overpayment in Taiwan's economic prime time, which was a decade prior to 2001 when everyone was trying to squeeze into the high-tech industry for high pay and benefits. After that golden age, the economy started to slide and employers could no longer offer salaries as high as they were, which is the cause of unrealistic salary expectations among workers now. Basically, Taiwan's wages are not as low as many people think.

  TT: What percentage of companies don't have worker-friendly human-resource policies and what impact does this have on staff retention?

  Yang: I previously mentioned that 70 percent of the nation's workers are dissatisfied with their jobs, but the other 30 percent are dissatisfied because of their unpleasant working environment. A worker-friendly human resource policy requires investment in personnel management and an evaluation system that costs millions of dollars. Unfortunately, few company leaders have a sense of how important this system is, and few are willing to make such an investment since personnel equipment does not generate tangible profits for the company. Therefore, when workers feel frustrated from not being treated properly, companies with lousy working environments will see frequent personnel turnover.

  TT: What kind of progress has Taiwan made in recent years in terms of gender equality in the workplace?

  Yang: Taiwan has made a lot of progress on gender equality in the workplace over the past several years because of the efforts of women themselves. Females account for 52 percent of the workforce. However, women's salaries are still NT$3,000 lower than men's. But unequal pay is just a small discrimination against women in the early stages of their careers. Women are gradually changing from a supporting role to a leading role in the workplace. There is also a bigger percentage of female managers than there was 10 years ago. Thus, I expect gender equality to advance in Taiwan in the coming years.

  TT: How many people have lost their jobs due to the SARS outbreak and is the government doing enough to help these individuals?

  Yang: SARS may account for 5 percent of the job cuts in various businesses. It also will lead to a reduction 10 percent of jobs to be offered after graduation.

  Although the government provided loans for SARS-hit industries -- especially the travel industry to keep their employees -- the amount of money is too small compared with the losses.

  TT: Has SARS dampened Taiwanese interest in working in China?

  Yang: Yes. First of all, Taiwanese investors have cut jobs to be offered there because of the SARS-induced slump in demand as well as the inconvenience of cross-strait transportation. They further began to review their go-west policy and somewhat taper their "China fever." A recent poll shows that 24 percent of companies say they won't call off their investment in China. Others were contemplating not putting all their eggs in China but rather scattering them among other Asian countries.

  As for general workers, 65 percent have expressed an interest in obtaining a position in China, but only six percent actually applied for work across the Strait. It indicates that the public lacks information concerning the Chinese job market.

  TT: One of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign promises was to enact a five-day workweek, but the effort was later stopped after encountering strong opposition from the business community. Why don't Taiwanese workers unite to demand a work schedule on par with the advanced nations of the world?

  Yang: In general, I believe most companies have already carried out the five-day workweek policy after the government passed a bill cutting people's weekly work hours from the previous 44 to 42. A minority of companies may still demand more than 42 hours if they are still not able to maintain the same production volume on the new schedule.

  In this case, laborers can ask for overtime wages or refuse the extra workload. As for why they do not do so, I think partly from fears that they may be dismissed since they can hardly bear the risk of losing their jobs during such tough times.

  Another reason may be the extra work hours are within workers' tolerance.

  In fact, it usually takes two to three years for employers to fully comply with new policies after they go into effect. In the absence of pressure from laborers' unions, the government usually won't actively intervene in disputes between labor and industry.

  In addition, the government would not like to see a reduction in competitiveness resulting from a drop in production.
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