Taiwanese workers earned an average of NT$47,000 per month this year, but 40 percent are struggling financially and 18 percent plan to switch jobs within 12 months, two separate surveys showed yesterday.
The amount equals a 5.4 percent increase from a year earlier to a decade high, 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said.
The government is due to review the nation’s minimum wages.
Photo: Hsu Li-chuan, Taipei Times
Employees at computer and consumer electronics manufacturers reported the highest average monthly wage of NT$60,000 a month, followed by semiconductor firms at NT$59,000, and vendors of shoe and textile products, along with software and Internet businesses at NT$55,000, 104 Job Bank said.
Tech firms and financial institutes offered higher monthly wages than others, while 40 of 63 sectors offered wages below the average, it said.
Monthly wages for employees at social welfare companies was NT$38,000, while wedding studios, hair salons and property managers paid NT$39,000 to NT$40,000, it said.
Average monthly wages at restaurants, retailers, hotels and recreational facilities also underperformed at about NT$43,000, it said.
The average salary increased NT$1,454 after inflation adjustment, it said.
However, the highest-paying jobs offered 57 percent higher salary than the lowest-paying jobs, it said.
The findings pose challenges for employers seeking to recruit talent, the job bank said, as Taiwan’s economic recovery is gaining traction and labor shortages have exceeded 1 million for 16 consecutive months.
The data also help explain why most Taiwanese workers are overwhelmed with inflation and do not feel the benefits of economic growth, it said.
A separate survey by consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Taiwan showed that 57 percent of employees in Taiwan had surplus money after paying their bills, while 40 percent were having financial difficulties.
A total of 33 percent of employees said their job became more challenging last year and their workload had significantly increased, the advisory firm said, adding that 17 percent said their workload was unbearable.
Eighteen percent of workers were considering changing jobs within 12 months and 51 percent planned to learn new skills, the survey showed.
Ninety percent of workers believed that generative artificial intelligence would enhance their working efficiency and 36 percent were looking at better pay because of the new technology, the survey said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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