The number of workers on official furlough programs fell by more than 1,400 during the past week as the tourism sector received a boost from eased border controls, the Ministry of Labor said.
Ministry-compiled data showed that the number of workers placed on furlough programs was 15,782 as of Monday, down 1,433 from 17,215 as of Oct. 31.
From Monday last week to Monday, the number of employers implementing unpaid leave programs also fell by 138 to 2,482 from 2,620 a week earlier, the data showed.
Photo: CNA
Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Director Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) said that eased border controls and the lifting of the COVID-19 quarantine requirement for arrivals had helped boost travel agencies, airlines, and transportation and warehousing service providers.
The ministry said the number of furloughed workers in the support service industry, which is largely comprised of travel agencies, fell to 7,365 from 7,892 in the week, with the number of employers in the industry that had furlough programs in place also dropping to 1,395 from 1,427.
Huang said a large travel agency reinstated about 470 of its employees in the week, adding that the company had also developed new travel programs to allow its smaller counterparts to sell the products, a move which is expected to further help the industry.
During the week, the number of furloughed workers in the lodging, food and beverage sector fell to 1,029, and to 951 in the transportation and warehousing sector, from 1,161 and 1,184 a week earlier respectively, the data showed.
With eased COVID-19 restrictions boosting domestic consumption, the number of workers placed on unpaid leave programs in retail and wholesale businesses fell to 1,315 from 1,556, the data showed.
Huang said an eye-glasses retail chain terminated its furlough program by putting about 130 employees back to work during the week.
In the exports-oriented manufacturing sector, the number of furloughed workers fell to 3,970 from 4,149 as weakening global demand largely affected small and medium-sized manufacturers, although it was unclear whether large manufacturers would feel the pinch, Huang said.
The ministry updates its furloughed worker data on the first, eighth, 16th and 24th of every month, reporting unpaid leave numbers for companies that have registered their furlough programs with the ministry.
Most of the enterprises implementing furlough programs are small firms that employ fewer than 50 people.
Unpaid leave programs typically last for less than three months, with employees taking five to eight days of unpaid leave per month, the ministry said.
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