A survey by the Ministry of Labor suggests that the value of college degrees has declined over the past two decades, as starting wages for college graduates new to the workforce in July last year stood at NT$25,634, while college students 17 years ago received starting salaries of NT$27,209.
According to the survey, base salaries for graduates with master’s degrees or higher averaged NT$32,396, while those who had only completed bachelor’s degrees averaged NT$28,986 per month.
While the survey showed a steady increase in annual wages for all higher-education students — the survey showed that wages for people with bachelor’s degrees increased by 1.73 percent, wages for those with master’s degrees or higher rose by 1.03 percent, while master’s graduates with arts degrees saw increases of 0.79 percent — the increases were below average.
The ministry said education demographics in the late 1990s included master’s degree students with college students due to the low numbers of master’s graduates, adding that a distinction between such degrees and bachelor’s degrees was added in 1999.
The ministry said that college-graduate-level pay has regressed by nearly 17 years, as entry-level wages stood at NT$27,462 in 1999.
The survey showed that in descending order for different jobs, average starting wages were NT$32,448 for professional experts; NT$27,401 for technicians and assistant professional personnel; NT$24,722 for support staff; NT$24,089 for mechanical operators; NT$23,654 for sales and service staff; and NT$21,195 for basic technicians and laborers.
The average salary in the electricity and gas provision industry was NT$75,520, while the base wage was NT$66,684, the survey showed.
According to statistics provided by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the annual average salary per month in the industry last year was NT$94,022.
The ministry said the industry’s high average wage was due to wage stability at Taiwan Power Corp and CPC Corp, Taiwan, which hired the majority of the sector’s workers.
The statistics showed that the lowest pay grade in the electricity and gas provision industry was NT$36,000, which places the industry far higher than the average NT$23,452 offered by education service industries — which include cram schools and driver’s education classes — and the NT$29,350 paid on average to restaurant and hotel workers.
CLEAR BEFORE LEAVING: Two baby boys and a woman in her 30s tested negative before departing for Japan, but tests taken after their arrival came back postive Three Taiwanese tested positive for COVID-19 when they arrived in Japan earlier this month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported a new imported case. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, said that one of the three cases in Japan is a Taiwanese baby under the age of one, whose parents work in Japan. The infant came to Taiwan with his parents in January, and the parents paid for the family’s COVID-19 tests on Oct. 10 ahead of their planned return to Japan on Monday last week, he said. The boy and his
‘BACKED BY ENEMY’: CTi News is one of the few channels promoting unification, the New Party chairman said, while pro-Taiwan groups called it a propaganda outlet Pan-blue camp supporters yesterday lodged a protest at the National Communications Commission (NCC) against what they say is a possible move by the government to shut down CTi News, adding that politics should not interfere with freedom of the press. Protesters included representatives from the New Party, the Blue Sky Action Alliance, the 333 Political Party Alliance and other pan-blue groups. “We stand here today because CTi News is one of the few media outlets in Taiwan that is still willing to give groups supporting unification with China a voice. If the news channel is gone, there would only be
NEW YEAR’S EVE: Examples from South Korea and Japan show that 15 local COVID-19 infections could emerge in a short period if measures are not taken The Taipei City Government would cancel its New Year’s Eve Party and all large events if 15 or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 are reported in the city within a week, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday. Addressing the Taipei Cross Border E-Commerce Annual Convention, Ko said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many uncertainties to society, and that e-commerce is on a path of no return and would continue to grow. Many countries have not effectively controlled their COVID-19 outbreaks, and although Taiwan implements strict border controls and there have been few inbound passengers, the pandemic is unlikely to end soon,
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused CTi News of trying to mislead the public by publishing a half-page advert claiming that the party interfered in the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) review of its application for a license renewal. CTi News is distorting the commission’s review process by painting it as a political conflict and turning it into a smear campaign against the DPP, party spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said. “The NCC is an independent body, which carries out reviews and makes decisions based on its members’ professional expertise, as well as regulations and legal requirements governing media operations,” Yen said. “We condemn
RSS