Taiwan sees weekly drop in furloughed workers

Taiwan has seen its number of furloughed workers drop by 35 in the first week of January to 6,463, compared to a week earlier, according to the Ministry of Labour. 

The manufacturing sector registered the largest number of furloughed staff, at 2,686, which accounts for 40% of the total. This is followed by 1,377 of furloughed staff in the retail and wholesale sector, and 1,242 workers in the transportation and warehousing sector, said Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Deputy Director Huang Wei-chen, according to Focus Taiwan. 

Most of the companies that have furloughed workers have fewer than 50 employees who have been required to take an extra unpaid day or two off per week, said the ministry. 

The government expects that the number of furloughed staff will drop further, due to an anticipated uplift from travel and tourism; accommodation; and food and beverage industries during the upcoming winter break and Lunar New Year holiday.

READ: Taiwan sees fall in the number of furloughed workers

The Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on February 12, will likely see overseas Taiwanese returning home, boosting demand for quarantine hotels, said Huang. The accommodation and food and beverage industries are also likely to thrive, he added. 

Huang is confident that the number of workers on unpaid leave is expected to drop as compared with last year’s numbers, as people are aware of the importance of disease prevention like wearing masks.