People are less optimistic about receiving pay raises next year, a survey released yesterday by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) showed.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they expected their salaries to remain unchanged next year, while a similar Cathay Financial survey conducted last year showed that 49.5 percent of respondents expected no changes in their salaries this year.
This year’s survey showed that 33 percent of 19,052 respondents said they anticipated pay raises next year, lower than the 44 percent found in the previous survey.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, 8.8 percent said they expected wage cuts next year, up from 6.2 percent in the previous survey, Cathay Financial said, adding that 55 percent expected to receive one to three months’ salary as a year-end bonus.
The company attributed the downbeat sentiment to a weaker outlook for economic growth and employment next year, with the survey showing that 37 percent of respondents expected Taiwan’s labor market to worsen in the next six months, compared with 35.5 percent who predicted no changes in the market and 19 percent who expect the labor market to improve.
Forty percent said they expected the economy to deteriorate in the next six months, while 32 percent expect the economy to improve, Cathay Financial said.
Most respondents forecast GDP growth of 2.78 percent for next year, it added.
Nevertheless, confidence in the market appears to have improved.
The survey showed that 34 percent said they expected local stocks to rise over the next six months, higher than the 25 percent in another survey last month, while 25 percent said that they would reallocate their assets to add more shares to their investment portfolios, up from 20.6 percent a month earlier, Cathay Financial said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
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