Average monthly wages in the local industrial and services sectors in February rose 3.02 percent year-on-year to NT$47,296, while total wages — including bonuses and overtime pay — dropped 28.74 percent to NT$58,182, skewed by the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
Despite the sharp annual decline in total compensation, the data indicate a continued upward trend in Taiwanese workers’ wages, DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲) said.
The timing of the Lunar New Year holiday — which fell mainly in January this year, but entirely in February last year — contributed to the discrepancy, she added.
Photo: CNA
In the first two months of the year, average real regular wages rose 0.81 percent year-on-year to NT$43,380 after adjusting for inflation, the fastest growth in four years, Tan said.
Real total wages also grew 0.85 percent to NT$154,709, the second-highest increase over the same period, she said.
This is the 11th consecutive month in which wage growth outpaced inflation, Tan said.
Median regular wages — considered a more accurate reflection of typical pay, as they are not skewed by extremely high or low wages — rose 2.89 percent year-on-year to NT$37,986 in February, the DGBAS said. The figure was NT$38,062 in the first two months of this year, up 2.93 percent year-on-year, it said.
Meanwhile, the average overtime hours in the industrial and service sectors in February hit 8.4 hours, up 0.5 hours from a year earlier, the agency said.
In addition, overtime hours in the manufacturing sector reached 16.1 hours in February, extending a nine-month streak of positive growth, while the electronics components industry reported 26.9 overtime hours, the second-highest figure on record, the agency added.
The increase was driven in part by continued gains among Taiwanese technology firms, which have benefited from the development of artificial intelligence by major US technology giants, Tan said.
However, it is difficult to determine whether the rise in overtime hours and manufacturing activity was driven by front-loading of shipments, she added.
In the first two months, the average overtime hours in the industrial and service sectors were 8.5 hours, up 0.5 hours from the same period last year, the agency's data showed.
The DGBAS also estimated that average year-end bonuses in the local industrial and services sectors will rise to 1.72 months of regular salary this year, with the financial and insurance sector receiving the highest bonuses, averaging 3.74 months of regular salary.
The manufacturing sector followed with 2.17 months, trailed by the transportation and warehousing sector at 1.97 months and the real estate industry at 1.92 months, the agency said.
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