The number of workers on unpaid leave fell by more than 3,000 in the first week of this month, but is likely to rise again soon, as many employers are extending furlough programs, the Ministry of Labor said Friday.
As of Thursday, 12,198 workers were furloughed, a decrease of 3,353 from a week earlier, ministry data showed.
The number of companies with formal furlough programs fell by 437 from a week earlier to 2,008, the data showed.
Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Director Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) said the declines came after furlough programs at several travel agencies, airlines and logistics operators expired during the week ending Thursday.
Those employers are likely to apply for an extension with the ministry, Huang said, citing slow business due to prolonged COVID-19 border controls.
However, a textile manufacturer calling back more than 100 furloughed employees also contributed to the trend, Huang said, adding that the company reported an increase in orders.
The number of furloughed workers in the manufacturing sector fell to 797 from 1,100, the data showed.
The support service industry, which largely comprises travel agencies, also saw a decline, from 9,148 to 7,637, while the number of furloughed workers in the transportation and logistics industry dropped to 1,024 from 1,561, the data showed.
The number of furloughed workers in the retail and wholesale industry fell from 1,143 to 795, it showed.
Huang said that growing daily COVID-19 case numbers might soon start affecting the job market.
The ministry regularly updates its furloughed worker data based on numbers reported by companies that have registered furlough programs.
Most of the enterprises that have furlough programs are small firms that employ fewer than 50 people.
The unpaid leave programs typically last for less than three months, with employees taking five to eight days of unpaid leave per month, the ministry said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
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Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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