The number of workers on official furlough programs in Taiwan fell by more than 1,400 during the past week as the tourism sector received a boost from eased border controls, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said.
Data compiled by the MOL showed the number of workers placed on furlough programs fell to 15,782 as of Nov. 7, down 1,433 from 17,215 as of Oct. 31.
During the period of Oct. 31-Nov. 7, the number of employers implementing unpaid leave programs also fell by 138 to 2,482 from 2,620 a week earlier, the MOL’s data indicated.
Speaking with CNA, Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), director of the MOL’s Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment, said eased border controls and the lifting of the quarantine requirement for arrivals had helped boost travel agencies, airlines, and transportation and warehousing services providers.
The MOL said the number of furloughed workers in the support service industry, which is largely comprised of travel agencies, fell to 7,365 from 7,892 in the week, with the number of employers in the industry which had furlough programs in place also dropping to 1,395 from 1,427.
Huang said a large-sized travel agency reinstated about 470 of its employees in the week, adding that the company had also developed new travel programs to allow its smaller counterparts to sell the products, a move which is expected to further help the industry.
During the week, the number of furloughed workers in the lodging and food/beverage and transportation/warehousing also fell to 1,029 and 951, respectively, from 1,161 and 1,184 a week earlier, the MOL data showed.
With eased COVID-19 concerns boosting domestic consumption, the number of workers placed on unpaid leave programs in the retail and wholesale business fell to 1,315 from 1,556 in the week, the MOL data indicated.
Huang said an eye-glasses retail chain terminated its furlough program by putting about 130 employees back to work during the week.
In the exports-oriented manufacturing sector, the number of furloughed workers dropped to 3,970 from 4,149 in the week as Huang said weakening global demand largely affected small and medium-sized manufacturers for now though it remained to be seen whether large manufacturers would feel the pinch.
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