More than 88 percent of employers in Taiwan are planning to give year-end bonuses, online job bank yes123 (yes123求職網) said on Tuesday.
Citing a survey conducted between Dec. 1 and 14, the job bank said 88.7 percent of the 1,028 employers polled said they would issue year-end bonuses, compared with 79.8 percent in a similar poll conducted last year.
The average year-end bonus is equal to 1.32 times an employee’s monthly salary — the second-highest in six years — only trailing 1.35 months in a poll conducted in 2018, the job bank said.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
The expected increase in the average year-end bonuses showed that many firms have climbed out of the shadow cast by the COVID-19 pandemic and appeared more willing to give bonuses to retain employees, yes123 spokesman Bingo Yang (楊宗斌) said.
The latest survey showed that the domestic-oriented service sector seemed to be more generous in giving out bonuses, while the export-oriented manufacturing sector appeared cautious about doling out the money as their operations were hurt by a weaker global economy, Yang said.
The financial, insurance and accounting sector in the service industry remained No. 1 for bonuses among sectors, as it is planning to give an average equivalent of 2.75 months’ salary as year-end bonuses, up from 2.56 months a year earlier, the survey showed.
It is the 11th consecutive year that financial firms have given out the highest year-end bonuses in Taiwan, the job bank said.
The transportation, warehousing and logistics sector, also in the service industry, came in second, with planned bonuses equivalent to 2.11 months’ salary, up from 1.75 months a year earlier, the survey found.
The information technology sector in the manufacturing industry took the third spot, as it is planning to issue year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.8 months’ salary on average, down from 1.89 months a year earlier, followed by the medical care and biotech industry — 1.56 months’ salary vs 1.67 months’ last year — and old economy industries — 1.48 months vs 1.6 months, the job bank said.
The wholesale and retail sector in the service industry is planning to give year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.4 months’ salary on average, up from one month a year earlier, while an average of year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.33 months’ salary is planned by the lodging and food and beverage sectors, also in the service industry, up from 0.8 months a year earlier, it added.
The mass media and public relations industry sat at the bottom of the rankings, as it is planning to give bonuses equivalent to only 0.5 months of wages, the survey showed.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would