Nearly half of Taiwanese employees check work-related e-mails or text messages while on vacation, according to an annual report released earlier this month by travel company Expedia.
The report, which looked at vacation deprivation in 19 nations and regions, found that 49 percent of Taiwanese feel “somewhat or very vacation deprived,” up from 44 percent last year.
However, Taiwanese were the least vacation-deprived employees in Asia, trailing those from India (75 percent), South Korea (72 percent), Hong Kong (69 percent), Malaysia (67 percent), Singapore (63 percent), Thailand (62 percent) and Japan (53 percent).
Overall, employees felt more vacation-deprived this year than last year, with respondents from 12 countries and regions reporting more severe feelings of vacation deprivation.
According to the online survey, which was conducted last month, Taiwanese employees were given an average of 14 vacation days this year, and are expected to use 12 of them.
That translates into about 22.9 million unused vacation days nationwide, as about 11.45 million Taiwanese were employed last month, according to Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics data.
By the end of this year, only 65 percent of Taiwanese employees will have used all of their vacation days, the report said, adding that 74 percent of female employees are expected to use all of their vacation days.
Last year, Taiwanese employees were again given an average of 14 vacation days, and used 10 of them, the report added.
The main reasons for not taking vacation days included a busy work schedule or shortage of staff (32 percent), wanting to save vacation days for emergencies (31 percent) and wanting to exchange unused vacation days for money (25 percent), the report said.
Forty-four percent Taiwanese respondents said they feel guilty for using vacation days, surpassed only by Japan at 58 percent and South Korea at 55 percent, while 54 percent of Taiwanese respondents said their employers or managers are supportive of taking vacations, it added.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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