As the job market is recovering, bolstered by a robust economy, graduates this summer are expected to receive slightly higher salaries than last year, according to a poll released yesterday.
The poll was conducted by online job bank www.9999.com.tw (汎亞人力銀行) through 2,000 phone interviews with companies from 20 industries between March 1 and April 1. There were 1,314 valid respondents to the poll, which had a margin of error of 2.7 percent.
Overall, the poll indicated that employers plan to offer NT$26,880 per month, including starting salaries and benefits, an increase of 0.82 percent from last year.
The expanding finance and insurance sectors will provide the highest monthly salaries -- an average of NT$31,587 for new employees. The technology sector came second at NT$30,845 per month, and optoelectronics and telecommunications ranked third at NT$30,304.
Tourism, restaurants and wholesale and retail, which bore the financial brunt of the SARS outbreak last year, as well as the post-election row, were among the lowest-paying industries, set to offer NT$24,582, NT$24,959 and NT$25,945 respectively to new staff this summer, the survey said.
The poll indicated that salaries for graduates with master's degrees had sank, were from NT$31,124 to NT$30,987.
"The main reason for the decline is the boom in the number of mature graduates, which has grown fourfold during the past 10 years," Yang Ken-cheng (楊肯誠), chief operating officer of the job bank, told a press conference yesterday.
According to official statistics, nearly 150 new universities and colleges have been established in recent years, while many vocational schools have also upgraded their status as part of the government's push for more balanced regional development.
Against this backdrop, employers tend to adjust salaries for graduates with master's degrees from these new colleges to be on a par with national college graduates, Kevin Zang (
Acknowledging that wages for new career entrants this summer will be generally higher than last year, Zang said some are unable to take advantage of this fact.
"Many senior college students decided to go to graduate school last year, when the job market was exceptionally weak," he said.
For example, the number of students applying for entrance to graduate schools in National Central University has surged by 50 percent this year, Zang said. Another sign of the shortage of new blood can be seen at the job fairs held by various campuses in February and last month, in which companies received tepid interest from students, he said.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS