Yearly average wage rises to highest in seven years

• By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The average yearly wage in Taiwan has risen to a seven-year high of NT$677,000 (US$21,689) this year, as inflation and labor shortages have spurred companies to raise overall compensation, online human resources platform 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said yesterday.

The figure represents a 3.1 percent hike from a year earlier, with semiconductor manufacturers topping the survey with an average annual wage of NT$969,000, followed by telecoms at NT$841,000 and electronics suppliers at NT$820,000, the job bank said.

Despite excess capacity in the semiconductor sector in the second quarter, the industry has been in a favorable position for at least three years and remains highly profitable, 104 Job Bank consultant Stanley Hua (花梓馨) told a news conference in Taipei.

Photo: Ou Yu-hsiang, Taipei Times

That position, coupled with a persistent brain drain that has driven companies to compete for talent by offering higher salaries sometimes across borders, has resulted in the semiconductor sector offering the highest average pay, he said.

That explains why integrated circuit (IC) design engineers enjoy the highest average annual salary at NT$1.37 million, followed by digital IC engineers at NT$1.28 million and IC layout engineers at NT$1.08 million, the job bank said, adding that such firms have raised wages and perks to recruit and retain talent to meet technology upgrade and capacity expansion needs.

However, the average pay in the financial sector is expected to decline 7.9 percent this year, due to insurance companies paying compensation to people who purchased COVID-19 policies and falling turnover on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which is down 31 percent year-on-year, the job bank said.

The average annual wage in the electronic components manufacturing sector is expected to fall 2.6 percent due to an economic slowdown and 1.9 percent in the construction sector due to falling property sales caused by rising interest rates, it said.

Meanwhile, 95.9 percent of Taiwanese firms plan to distribute year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.33 months of wages, the job bank said, adding that the figure is 0.23 months higher than the amount recorded last year.

The survey showed that 49.1 percent of Taiwanese firms are looking at business decline next year and only 23.5 percent hold positive views.

The job bank cited an economic slowdown at home and abroad as the main drag on business sentiment.

Some firms expect a recovery to take place in the third quarter of next year, but others believe the downturn would persist until the fourth quarter, it said.

Additional reporting by CNA