TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's fresh graduates are facing lower wages and the longest wait between graduation and employment in nine years, according to the results of a survey released Friday (Oct. 22).
Graduates waited for an average of 2.8 months (84 days) before landing a full-time job, the survey by local job hunting website "yes123," showed. This is the longest wait between graduation and employment for new college graduates in nine years, according to a CNA article.
Last year's average wait was 2.7 months, while it was 2.5 months the year before. The survey randomly sampled 1,188 individuals over the age of 20 who are in full-time work.
It showed first-time employees took about 1.6 months to adapt to the corporate environment. Of those surveyed, 81% were required to complete a probation period.
Of those, 70% had a three-month trial employment period, 15.6% had a one-month trial, while 9.8% had a two-week assessment. Of the individuals who were polled, 60.6% got through the trial and were given a full-time position.
The survey, conducted between Oct. 6-18, also asked about the salary situation of respondents. While most job seekers expected a monthly salary above NT$30,000 (US$1,075.82), the actual salary for first-time employees averaged NT$30,660 this year, 0.3% lower than the NT$30,749 recorded last year, the survey showed.
Some respondents revealed the average salary during trial periods was 6% less than the salary they received after becoming fully employed. However, 53% of those who made it through the probation period revealed employers did not raise their salaries, even after they became bonafide full-time employees.
The numbers for both probationary and full employment salaries were the lowest seen in three years. The survey also sampled 917 companies and found the dropout rate for new employees was about 31%.
The top five reasons why newcomers quit were: employment responsibilities differ from expectations, parents do not approve of job choice, unable to handle the designated workload, employers not providing room to develop, and personal goals not in line with the company.
