Financial sector to pay biggest bonuses for 7th straight year: poll

The financial sector is expected this year to pay the highest year-end bonuses among the major business sectors in Taiwan, as it has done for the past six years, according to a survey released Tuesday by 104 online job bank.

On average, financial institutions in Taiwan are expected to give their employees the equivalent of 1.76 months' salary as bonuses this year, the poll showed.

The findings of the poll reflect the healthy bottom line of the country's leading institutions, the top two being Fubon Financial Holding Co. (???) with a profit of NT$45.98 billion (US$1.44 billion) in the first 11 months of the year, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. (???), which posted NT$45.43 billion in the same period.

In the chemical/petrochemical sector, year-end bonuses are expected to average 1.56 months' pay, the second highest this year, as demand from emerging markets in Southeast Asia has been growing, according to the poll.

The third-highest bonus payments will be made in the semiconductor sector, averaging 1.53 months' salary, the poll showed.

The job bank said many semiconductor firms appeared willing to increase their year-end bonuses since chip makers, integrated circuit designers, IC packaging and testing service providers have seen higher shipments and profits this year as a result of solid global demand for smartphones.

The chemical/petrochemical and the semiconductor sectors last year paid the fourth and sixth highest bonuses, respectively.

With the domestic economy continuing to show signs of improvement, year-end bonuses in Taiwan's business sector are likely to average 1.27 months' pay this year, but will be higher among companies with more than 500 employees, the job bank said, citing the poll.

However, the poll showed that 18.3 percent of enterprises in the country will pay less than last year, the job bank said.

Taiwan's 2016 economic growth is forecast at an annual 1.35 percent, compared with 0.72 percent in 2015, and is projected at 1.87 percent in 2017, according to the government.

The 104 job bank survey was conducted in November and collected 935 valid questionnaires. It had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel