A decline in export orders in Taiwan’s manufacturing sector resulted in an increase in the overall number of workers on formal unpaid leave over the past week, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.
As of Friday, there were 9,576 workers on furlough nationwide — an increase of 430 from the 9,146 logged as of Dec. 7, the ministry’s data showed.
Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Director Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) said that the recent increase in the number of furloughed workers resulted largely from weaker employment in the manufacturing sector amid fragile global demand.
Photo: CNA
Among the manufacturers that implemented unpaid leave programs last week, two exporters in the information technology industry each had about 100 employees on furlough, due to a decline in export orders, he said.
One of the companies would maintain the furloughs for three months, and the other for one or two months, he said.
Meanwhile, the increase in the number of furloughed workers in the manufacturing sector was moderated, as an electronics component maker called back about 60 production line workers who had been on unpaid leave, to meet its rush orders, he said.
Across the manufacturing sector, the number of furloughed workers rose to 8,609 as of Friday, up from 8,247 the previous week, including 2,381 in the information technology industry, the ministry’s data showed.
The number of furloughed workers in the metal and electric machinery industry was 5,157 as of Friday, up from 5,018 as of Dec. 7, the data showed.
The manufacturing sector accounted for almost 90 percent of Taiwan’s total furloughed workers in the past week, the ministry said.
However, employment in the local service sector was relatively stable, as domestic consumption has remained solid in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, the ministry said.
The number of furloughed workers in the transportation and warehousing industry, and the lodging and food and beverage industry remained unchanged, at two as of Friday, while in the support service industry, which comprises travel agencies, the number fell to 58 workers from 61 a week earlier, the ministry’s data showed.
In the retail and wholesale industry, the number of workers on unpaid leave had increased to 801 as of Friday, up from 732 the previous week.
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