The government’s plan to raise the minimum monthly salary for public-sector workers to NT$30,000 and to raise the minimum hourly wage shows that it is taking steps toward solving the problem of low wages.
However, more government measures are required to help high-tech companies free up the capital needed to give employees decent raises, which is crucial to solving the brain drain problem.
The pay problem has plagued the nation for many years, but it has worsened recently to the point that pundits and lawmakers alike have begun calling it a national security issue.
The label people attach to low wages makes a lot of sense, considering the exodus of talented professional the nation is facing.
According to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, 61.1 percent of the nation’s skilled workers in 2013 chose to work overseas, and of those, about 80 percent of the high-tech industry workers went to China.
This is the result of Chinese companies luring skilled workers by offering much higher salaries than what can be earned in Taiwan, which, in the case of Tsinghua Unigroup poaching Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s engineers, was reportedly five times their original salaries.
This siphoning effect has not only affected top high-tech firms, but also smaller ones in technology-intensive sectors, which are losing many recent graduates who are willing to work abroad for higher salaries.
The government acknowledges that these threats could greatly destabilize the nation’s working population. It should be lauded for introducing the the Act for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例), which grants tax deductions to investment “angels” and innovative firms that contribute capital to innovative sectors, and also lifts a regulation that required shares awarded to employees linked to technology transfers to be taxed within five years.
The government could use the act as a guideline for similar policies in other sectors — such as the biotech or artificial intelligence industries — when setting qualifications that companies must meet to receive tax breaks, thereby helping them raise the capital needed to raise wages.
While it is unlikely in the short term that the average salary in the nation’s high-tech industries could match salaries in China, these policies could help local firms narrow the gap.
Once skilled workers are able to achieve a healthy equilibrium between their income and spending, they are more likely to be content with their jobs and not feel as compelled to work overseas.
In a free market, the government cannot impose a law that punishes companies that refuse to share its surplus with employees, so it is important that profitable companies realize that employees consider their jobs to be rewarding only when their efforts are sufficiently rewarded.
As high-tech industries are at the heart of the government’s industrial upgrade initiative, such firms have a crucial role to play when it comes to combating the salary problem, as the amount they pay their skilled workers will likely have a profound effect on the results of the initiative.
The pay raise unveiled by the Executive Yuan is just one step of many needed to counter low wages, but solving the national security issue would require more than government efforts.
As Premier William Lai (賴清德) has said, despite the government’s policies to promote higher salaries, it is ultimately up to the companies themselves.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS