A nearly 4 percent pay raise for public employees is on the cards, the first time government payrolls would increase by more than 3 percent in the past two decades, Executive Yuan sources said on Friday.
Civil servants, military service personnel and school teachers in Taiwan received regular salary hikes until 1991, when their wages stagnated somewhat. Since then, the government has increased the pay of its workforce four times: in 2001, 2005, 2011 and 2018, and by no more than 3 percent on each occasion, one source said.
Commenting separately on the condition of anonymity, an Executive Yuan official said that the proposed raise would be implemented as the Cabinet redeems NT$259.5 billion (US$9.25 billion) of public debt, a 20-year high.
As Taiwan’s economy is expected to grow by 5.88 percent this year, the government could afford to reward public employees and boost the economy with another stimulus, the official said.
The Executive Yuan earlier this year intended to implement raises next year, but the plan was brought forward after a local outbreak of COVID-19 in May hurt the service and consumer goods sector, the official said.
The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration advised against a pay raise for government workers following the recommendation of an evaluation committee that it organized in August, they said.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told the agency to reassess its evaluation, citing the need for the government to play a leading role in boosting incomes, and to show public employees that they are not being ignored, the anonymous official said.
Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that the predicted economic growth this year would be the highest in 11 years, while the government has had a budget surplus for the past three years.
The premier has instructed that the benefits of economic growth must be shared with the people, Lo said, adding that raising government workers’ wages is being discussed.
Su yesterday said that the government is working toward a pay raise for public employees.
He did not elaborate.
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