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.
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