TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After Evergreen Marine Corp. (EMC) doled out year-end bonuses equal to 40 months' salary to its employees, another major Taiwanese shipping company’s less generous payout has led to many disgruntled employees.

The surge in container freight rates has greatly benefited Taiwan’s shipping industry. After news broke that EMC employees got big bonuses on Dec. 30, with some receiving up to NT$2 million, the equivalent of 40 months’ salary, employees of Yang Ming Marine Corp. (Yang Ming), whose business was also very lucrative last year, were disappointed to receive eight months' salary for their year-end bonuses, according to CNA.

Yang Ming Chairman Cheng Chen-mao (鄭貞茂) said during a press conference on Wednesday (Dec. 5) that it’s understandable that employees will compare bonuses with their counterparts in the shipping industry. However, he added that Yang Ming’s profits had lagged behind other companies in the same sector over the years, making it difficult to make up the difference in one fell swoop, despite last year's profitable earnings.

“The respectable company in the same business (Evergreen) handed out a 40-months bonus, which only a very few companies in Taiwan could do. If everybody insists on comparing each other, it can only lead to confrontation,” CNA quoted Cheng as saying.

He said that Yang Ming, which is a partially government-owned company, has done its best to benefit its employees and that the bonuses would be given before the Lunar New Year.

Yang Ming’s employees received a 3-5% pay raise last year, the chairman said, adding that the company pays monthly salaries of NT$40,000-42,000 and 13 months' salary a year to its entry-level employees, which is comparable to other shipping companies.

The salaries of all Yang Ming employees will be raised again this year, with entry-level employees getting a 4% pay raise equaling around NT$45,000, CNA cited Cheng as saying.