Average monthly take-home pay in February increased 2.52 percent from a year earlier to NT$45,917, while total wages — which includes overtime pay, performance-based commissions and bonuses — soared 54.84 percent to NT$81,576 on the back of Lunar New Year bonuses, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
Taiwanese firms on average issued Lunar New Year bonuses equivalent to 1.69 months of regular wages, or NT$77,348, the highest in nine years and up from 1.68 months a year earlier, Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
“The improvement came after service providers benefited from sustained revenge consumption in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, although manufacturers took a hit from a global slowdown,” Chen told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
Financial and insurance companies offered the highest bonuses, averaging 3.64 months of wages, or NT$251,402, she said.
Manufacturers distributed 2.11 months of year-end bonuses, lower than the 2.14 months last year, she said, adding that suppliers of electronic components gave 2.76 months of bonuses, also weaker than 2.8 months a year earlier.
Exporters of tech and non-tech products had idle capacities and headcounts last year as they grappled with business declines induced by inventory adjustments and global inflation, Chen said.
Recreational facilities, hotels and restaurants fared better, issuing bonuses of 0.44 months to 0.74 months, compared with smaller bonuses or none last year, she said.
In the first two months of this year, regular take-home pay rose 2.39 percent annually to NT$46,017, while overall wages expanded 3.74 percent to NT$81,982, she said.
Real take-home wages after inflation remained in positive territory for the first time in two years with a 1.29 percent uptick as inflation pressure eased, Chen said.
The timing of the holiday also played a role, as local companies sometimes distribute year-end bonuses in December when the Lunar New Year is in January, she said.
Regular monthly wages have a fair chance of beating inflation due to the wage hikes and consumer price data, Chen said.
Holiday disruptions also explained why the number of workers hired in the industrial and service sectors in February shrank 0.25 percent, or about 21,000 people, compared with January, the DGBAS said.
Most firms halted operations for the holiday, it said.
As a result, the accession rate in February shed 0.07 percentage points to 2.04 percent, while the dropout rate gained 0.24 percentage points to 2.29 percent, it said.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS