More than 30 percent of respondents said they are not inclined to cast their ballot in the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections, a survey released yesterday by online job bank yes123 showed.
Yes123 asked people aged 20 and older on its Web site about their views on politics, political discussions in the workplace and whether they would take advantage of election-related business opportunities.
The survey showed that 33.7 percent of respondents said that they would not vote in next year’s elections, or have yet to make up their minds.
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
It showed that 20.2 percent said they had encountered corporations probing their political stance or party affiliation during a job interview, while 33.4 percent said they would take part-time job opportunities during the election period, with the expected addition to their monthly income averaging NT$11,625.
Topping the preferences for an election-related side job was managing a social media platform for a candidate, it showed.
The survey also canvassed corporations, with 61.4 percent saying they were willing to offer a “voting holiday” for employees to return to their hometowns early to cast their ballots.
Regarding political discussion in the workplace, 4.4 percent of corporations said their rules banned the subject at work.
Politicians nowadays go beyond the campaign trail, with online activities a useful strategy for candidates to get close to voters, especially the younger generation, yes123 spokesperson Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) told a news conference.
This phenomenon has resulted in a greater need for social media management and copywriting specialists, Yang said.
The survey, which was conducted using an online questionnaire from Oct. 23 to Nov. 8, collected valid responses from 1,364 employees, with a margin of error of 2.65 percentage points, and collected valid responses from 912 corporations, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3.25 percentage points.
Also at the news conference, designers said that several election-related cultural and creative products, such as action figures, have been launched to boost candidates’ profiles.
Designers Ho Yun-tao (何雲濤) and Tseng Po-wei (曾柏崴) said they have rolled out a series of political action figures after crowdfunding capital.
“Candidates in this presidential election have distinctive personal features, which inspired us to use humor to talk about politics,” Ho said.
“Light-hearted action figures can spark voters’ interest in getting to know more about politicians,” Tseng said. “They allow people to make better informed choices about whom they vote for.”
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