The number of workers on furlough programs in Taiwan dropped by 983 over the past week as more businesses brought back staff from unpaid leave, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.
The number of workers on furlough programs dropped from 18,163 on Thursday last week to 17,180 yesterday, while the number of companies implementing unpaid leave programs fell by 173 to 2,525, ministry data showed.
Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Director Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) said that some companies in sectors driven by local demand have begun bringing back staff from unpaid leave.
Photo: CNA
Citing the support services industry as an example, Huang said that a large travel agency had its last 52 furloughed employees return to work, while the number of furloughed people in the accommodation and catering sector also fell.
In the transportation industry, two airlines that mainly provide flight services to Southeast Asia ended furlough programs following a rebound in passenger volumes, he said.
Although the number of airline ground staff on unpaid leave did not decrease over the past week, Huang said he expects the situation to improve early next year.
Fewer companies in the manufacturing sector implemented unpaid leave programs over the past week, although the number of workers on furlough increased slightly, the ministry said.
The increase was particularly evident in the machine tool industry, Huang said, without elaborating.
According to the latest figures, the number of furloughed workers in the manufacturing industry was 5,422, while the number of companies with unpaid leave programs was 273.
The figures represent a slight deterioration from Thursday last week, when 5,386 people in the manufacturing sector were on unpaid leave and the number of companies implementing such programs was 276.
The weekly furlough data came after government data last week showed that Taiwan’s factory activity shrank for a fifth straight month last month due to inventory corrections and sluggish demand.
The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index last month shed 1.5 points to 43.9, well below the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction and the lowest since the launch of the survey in July 2012, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said.
The weak manufacturing activity gauge could persist until the impact of global monetary tightening fades, likely by the end of next year, CIER economists said.
Additional reporting by Crystal Hsu
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI