Employees in Taiwan received an average bonus of NT$70,513 (US$2,479.8) for last year, the highest-ever despite economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Tuesday.
The agency said that NT$70,513 was equal to 1.64 months of the average monthly salary.
The average year-end bonus for last year, up from NT$69,577 in 2019, was calculated by combining all non-regular wages, such as bonuses, that employees received from December last year to February this year, it said.
Photo: Clare Cheng, Taipei Times
In Taiwan, companies tend to give year-end bonuses as an incentive to their employees before the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, the holiday — marking the beginning of the Year of the Ox — fell in the middle of February.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a major headache for some local industries, while other sectors have recovered, DGBAS Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) told reporters in Taipei.
The three sectors with the highest year-end bonuses last year were finance and insurance (3.92 months), real estate (2.39 months) and manufacturing (1.82 months).
The sectors with the lowest year-end bonuses were those hardest-hit by the pandemic: the hospitality and food and beverage industries (0.49 months), as well as arts, entertainment and recreation venues (0.46 months), Chen said.
After an increase in property transactions in the second half of last year, real-estate businesses distributed significantly higher year-end bonuses (2.39 months), up from those in 2019 (1.84 months) — and the highest since 2009, Chen added.
Taiwan had 8.15 million workers at the end of February — 18,000 more than a year earlier, DGBAS data showed.
The average monthly regular wage in January and February was NT$42,976, up 1.77 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is expected to step down from her role before her eight-year term ends in October next year, the Financial Times reported. Lagarde wants to leave before the French presidential election in April next year, which would allow French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to find her replacement together, the report said, citing an unidentified person familiar with her thoughts on the matter. It is not clear yet when she might exit, the report said. “President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of
French President Emmanuel Macron told a global artificial intelligence (AI) summit in India yesterday he was determined to ensure safe oversight of the fast-evolving technology. The EU has led the way for global regulation with its Artificial Intelligence Act, which was adopted in 2024 and is coming into force in phases. “We are determined to continue to shape the rules of the game... with our allies such as India,” Macron said in New Delhi. “Europe is not blindly focused on regulation — Europe is a space for innovation and investment, but it is a safe space.” The AI Impact Summit is the fourth
CONFUSION: Taiwan, Japan and other big exporters are cautiously monitoring the situation, while analysts said more Trump responses ate likely after his loss in court US trading partners in Asia started weighing fresh uncertainties yesterday after President Donald Trump vowed to impose a new tariff on imports, hours after the Supreme Court struck down many of the sweeping levies he used to launch a global trade war. The court’s ruling invalidated a number of tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on Asian export powerhouses from China and South Korea to Japan and Taiwan, the world’s largest chip maker and a key player in tech supply chains. Within hours, Trump said he would impose a new 10 percent duty on US imports from all countries starting on
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE: The initiative is aimed at protecting semiconductor supply chain resilience to reduce dependence on China-dominated manufacturing hubs India yesterday joined a US-led initiative to strengthen technology cooperation among strategic allies in a move that underscores the nations’ warming ties after a brief strain over New Delhi’s unabated purchase of discounted Russian oil. The decision aligns India closely with Washington’s efforts to build secure supply chains for semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and critical technologies at a time when geopolitical competition with China is intensifying. It also signals a reset in relations following friction over energy trade and tariffs. Nations that have joined the Pax Silica framework include Japan, South Korea, the UK and Israel. “Pax Silica will be a group of nations
RSS