The number of workers on official furlough programs in Taiwan grew by 718 over the past week in large part due to a fall in orders for the manufacturing sector, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said Wednesday.

Data compiled by the MOL showed the number of workers placed on furlough programs rose to 19,750 as of Aug. 23, up from 19,032 as of Aug. 15.

During the week of Aug. 16-23, the number of employers implementing unpaid leave programs also rose 44 from a week earlier to 2,971, the MOL’s data indicated.

In the manufacturing sector, the number of workers placed on furlough programs rose to 2,263 as of Aug. 23 from 1,979 a week earlier, while the number of employers in the sector with furlough programs rose by 10 to 178 as of Aug. 23, according to the MOL.

Speaking with reporters, Wang Chin-jung (???), deputy head of MOL’s Labor Conditions and Equal Employment Division, said a machinery and hardware supplier had placed 40-50 workers on four days of unpaid leave a month.

Meanwhile, a chemical firm put 40-50 of its employees on furlough for three days a month, Wang added.

Amid rising fears among export-oriented manufacturers in Taiwan over the impact of inflation on the global economy and demand, Wang said the number of affected workers remained limited and that it was too early to tell if the situation would further deteriorate.

The number of furloughed employees working for retail and wholesale businesses rose to 1,735 from 1,534 in the week, while the transportation and warehousing sector also saw workers placed on unpaid leave rise to 1,519 from 1,462, the MOL said.

In addition, the number of furloughed workers in the support service sector, which is made up largely of travel agencies, rose to 9,084 from 8,857 in the week due to COVID-19 border controls, the MOL added.

However, with consumer spending on the rise, the number of furloughed workers in the lodging and food & beverage sector fell to 3,651 from 3,730 in the week, according to the MOL.

The MOL updates its furloughed worker data on the 1st, 8th, 16th, and 24th of every month, reporting unpaid leave numbers for companies that have registered their furlough programs with the ministry.

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

Unpaid leave programs typically last for less than three months, with employees taking five to eight days of unpaid leave per month, according to the MOL

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel