The number of workers on official furlough programs in Taiwan dropped nearly 5,000 over the past week as businesses in the tourism and manufacturing sectors both recalled more than 1,600 employees from unpaid leave, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said.
The number of workers on furlough programs reported to the ministry fell to 13,499 from 18,492 on Jan. 3, while the number of employers with unpaid leave programs also dropped by 644 to 2,017, according to data released Monday by the MOL.
Huang Wei-chen (???), director of the MOL’s Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment, attributed the drops to seasonal factors and some companies in the manufacturing and support services industries recalling staff from unpaid leave.
According to the MOL data, the number of furloughed workers in the manufacturing sector dropped by 1,798 to 4,439 over the past week, while the number of companies with unpaid leave programs fell by 72 to 235.
Analysis
Despite the decline, weakening global demand still affected exports-oriented manufacturers, some of whom might implement unpaid leave programs after the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays, Huang said.
Meanwhile, the number of furloughed workers in the support service industry, which is largely comprised of travel agencies, fell by 1,626 to 6,092 in the week, with the number of employers in the industry which had furlough programs in place also dropping by 272 to 1,156.
Huang said the lifting of border controls for arrivals and a travel surge ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays had helped boost the support service sector, significantly lowering the number of workers in the industry on unpaid leave programs.
The furlough situation in domestic demand-driven industries such as the lodging and food/beverage and the retail and wholesale business sectors had all improved, Huang added.
In the transportation/warehousing industry, although Taiwanese airlines had terminated their furlough programs, some air carriers that mainly provide flights to China still had their furlough programs in place, according to Huang.
In the recent two years, the number of workers on furlough programs has showed a sharp downward trend at the beginning of the year, Huang noted, adding that the data released on Jan. 10 last year showed 8,784 fewer workers on unpaid leave compared with the past week, the largest weekly decline for 2022.
Over the past two years, the furlough situation was both affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with domestic demand-driven industries bearing the brunt last year, while the manufacturing sector experienced stable growth, Huang said.
It remains to be seen whether manufacturers would feel the pinch of the ongoing economic slowdown, he added.
The MOL updates its furloughed worker data on a weekly basis, reporting unpaid leave numbers for companies that have registered their furlough programs with the ministry.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel