Employers expect to issue year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.11 months of wages on average, the lowest in nine years, amid the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey released on Monday showed.
Citing the survey, which was conducted from Nov. 25 to Wednesday last week, online job bank yes123 said that this year’s figure was down from 1.31 months in a similar poll conducted last year and was the lowest seen since 2011, when the average bonus was 1.08 months’ salary.
A second survey, also conducted from Nov. 25 to Wednesday last week by yes123, found that only 55.9 percent of employees polled expect to receive year-end bonuses, down sharply from 67.8 percent a year earlier.
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
That is the lowest since the job bank launched the annual poll in 2013.
Only 17.2 percent of those employees who expect to receive year-end bonuses said that the amount would increase from a year earlier.
The pandemic has cost certain local industries dearly, leading to an increase in the number of workers on furlough, as well as layoffs, yes123 spokesperson Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said.
“Sentiment in the local job market has been dampened by the pandemic, so it is no surprise that expectations for year-end bonuses weakened among employers, as well as employees,” Yang said.
Taiwanese businesses tend to issue year-end bonuses as an incentive before the Lunar New Year holiday, which next year will be in mid-February.
At the top of the list of industries set to give bonuses in yes123’s first survey, employers in the financial/insurance and accounting industry expect to give an average 2.5 months of wages as bonuses, up from 2.4 months a year earlier and ahead of the technology information industry (1.89 months), the medical care and biotech industry (1.56 months), the old-economy manufacturing sector (1.5 months) and the construction and property industry (1.45 months).
Companies in the mass communications, public relations and advertising industries expect to give bonuses worth only 0.5 months of wages, down from 0.57 months a year earlier, followed by the culture and education industry (0.67 months), and the hospitality, tourism and leisure industry (0.75 months).
The tourism industry has been dealt a heavy blow by the pandemic, which has forced the government to impose strict border controls, causing the number of tourists to plummet.
The first survey collected 966 valid questionnaires from employers, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3.15 percentage points, while the second poll collected 1,320 valid questionnaires from employees, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points, the company said.
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