Year-end bonuses are likely to be the smallest in eight years, a survey released yesterday by 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) found, as 93.8 percent of companies are planning bonuses equivalent to 1.1 months of wages, or 0.05 months less than last year.
It is a tradition in Taiwan for companies to distribute year-end bonuses ahead of the Lunar New Year to show appreciation to their employees.
The results showed that while some sectors have fared well, others have taken a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Reuters
For 10 consecutive years, financial firms have topped the survey. The results of the 2,086 companies polled between Oct. 26 and Oct. 31 showed that employees of banks, securities firms and insurance companies could look forward to bonuses equivalent to 1.84 months of wages, as rising stock markets across the world have bolstered the businesses’ profits.
Finance firms were followed by semiconductor companies at 1.57 months and construction companies at 1.23 months.
Most hotels and restaurants, which have experienced sluggish business during the two years of the pandemic, have canceled year-end bonuses, although a minority said they were pressing ahead with bonuses equivalent to 0.5 months of wages.
Next year, 39.3 percent of companies would raise wages by an average of 3.1 percent, or NT$1,302, which is a slower pace than the 4 percent pay increase for public-sector employees or the 5 percent hike in the minimum wage.
Software providers, financial institutions and semiconductor firms are running neck and neck with planned wage increases of 3.6 percent, the results showed.
This year, semiconductor firms would offer the highest average employee salaries at NT$921,000, followed by telecoms at NT$839,000 and financial firms at NT$808,000.
The results also showed that 47.7 percent of the companies intended to increase their headcounts by 10 percent.
Semiconductor firms reported the most vacancies, followed by manufacturers of consumer electronics and Internet software companies, the result showed.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
PRECEDENTED TIMES: In news that surely does not shock, AI and tech exports drove a banner for exports last year as Taiwan’s economic growth experienced a flood tide Taiwan’s exports delivered a blockbuster finish to last year with last month’s shipments rising at the second-highest pace on record as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and advanced computing remained strong, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Exports surged 43.4 percent from a year earlier to US$62.48 billion last month, extending growth to 26 consecutive months. Imports climbed 14.9 percent to US$43.04 billion, the second-highest monthly level historically, resulting in a trade surplus of US$19.43 billion — more than double that of the year before. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) described the performance as “surprisingly outstanding,” forecasting export growth
RSS