The number of workers on formal furlough programs in Taiwan as of the end of August hit a new high of more than 58,000 since a surge in domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases in mid-May, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said Wednesday.

The number of employers with unpaid leave programs in place also reached a record high since mid-May amid COVID-19 difficulties as the government’s measures to contain the virus by restricting people’s movements hurt the tourism and hospitality industries, the MOL added.

Data compiled by the MOL showed the number of workers who agreed with their employers to take unpaid leave rose 2,165 from a week earlier to 58,731 as of Aug. 30.

The number of companies implementing furlough programs also rose 196 from a week earlier to 4,822, according to the MOL.

Huang Wei-chen (???), director of the MOL’s Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment, told reporters that the alert imposed by the government to prevent mass gatherings took a toll on the support service industry, which includes travel agencies.

As a result, the support service industry saw the largest increase in furloughed workers over the past week, up 872 from a week earlier to 8,376 as of the end of last month, the MOL’s data showed.

In August, the number of furloughed workers and employers with unpaid leave programs in place in the support service industry rose 4,733 and 685, respectively, from July, according to the MOL.

At the end of August, the MOL said, the lodging and food/beverage industry recorded the highest number of furloughed workers, at 24,795, ahead of the retail and the support service industry (8,376) and the wholesale and retail industry (7,825).

Meanwhile, a total of 1,120 employers in the lodging and food/beverage industry implemented unpaid leave programs, the highest among the major industries, followed by the retail and wholesale and retail industry (1,114), and the support service industry (1,106), the MOL added.

Huang said the silver lining was that the number of furloughed workers in the wholesale and retail industry and in the lodging and food/beverage industry is on the decline.

In August, the number of furloughed workers in the wholesale and retail industry fell from 8,962 in July to 7,825, while the number in the lodging and food/beverage industry also dropped from 26,482 to 24,795, according to the MOL.

The ministry updates its furloughed worker data on the 1st, 8th, 16th and 24th of every month. However, the numbers only cover unpaid leave plans put in place by companies that are reported to the ministry.

Most of the enterprises implementing furlough programs are small firms employing fewer than 50 people.

These unpaid leave programs typically last for fewer than three months and involve employees taking five to eight days unpaid leave per month, according to the MOL.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel