Taiwan graduates experience longest job-hunting wait in 9 years: survey

Graduates fresh out of college in Taiwan recorded the longest wait between graduation and employment in nine years in 2021, according to the results of a survey released Friday.

The survey, conducted by local job hunting website “yes123,” indicated that graduates waited an average of 2.8 months (84 days) following graduation before securing a full-time job, the longest wait between graduation and employment for new college graduates in nine years.

The number is also slightly higher than last year’s average of 2.7 months and 2.5 months the year before.

The online survey randomly sampled 1,188 individuals above the age of 20 who are currently employed full-time, revealing that first-time employees took approximately 1.6 months to adapt to the corporate environment this year.

Eighty-one percent of sampled individuals were subject to a period of trial employment. Of those, 70 percent had a three-month trial employment period, 15.6 percent underwent a one-month trial, while 9.8 percent received a two-week assessment. A total of 60.6 percent of individuals polled successfully completed the trial and were offered a full-time position.

The survey, conducted between Oct. 6 and Oct. 18, also asked about the salary situation of respondents.

While most job seekers expect a monthly salary above NT$30,000 (US$1,075.82), the actual salary for first-time employees averaged NT$30,660 this year, 0.3 percent lower than the NT$30,749 recorded last year, the survey showed.

A number of respondents who underwent trial employment revealed that the average salary during assessment periods was 6 percent less than the salary following full-employment, at NT$28,804. However, 53 percent of those who successfully completed the trial said employers did not raise their salaries following their promotion to full-time employees.

The figures for trial and full employment salaries were also the lowest in three years.

The survey also sampled 917 questionnaires from companies registered with the site, revealing that the resignation rate of new employees was around 31 percent.

According to the corporations polled, the top five reasons why newcomers quit are: employment responsibilities differ from expectations, parents disapprove of occupation choice, unable to handle designated workload, employers not providing proper room to grow and personal goals not aligned with those of the company.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel