TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Over one-third of manufacturers gave a raise to their workers in 2023 and a slightly higher percentage aim to hike wages this year, while there are nearly 250,000 job openings. 

On Friday (May 31), the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released its survey on salary increases and job vacancies. It showed that as the economy improves, people's salaries are starting to improve. 

In 2023, 30.7% of companies increased regular wages, while 31.7% of businesses have already or plan to raise wages this year.

Overall, 38% of company employees have received pay hikes. If seniority-based raises are included, 36.1% of companies increased salaries for workers. 

The DGBAS survey determined the larger the company, the more common it was to increase wages. By industry, the financial and insurance sector had the highest rate of companies raising wages at 72.2%, followed by the mining and quarrying industry, and manufacturing, both exceeding 40%.

In terms of the proportion of employees receiving raises, the financial and insurance sector also led with 56.6%, followed by manufacturing at 49.2%.

As of the end of March, 31.7% of companies have raised or are expected to raise regular salaries this year (excluding salary increases based on seniority and promotion), 37.1% have not yet decided, and 31.3% will not make adjustments. Among firms with more than 100 employees, over 70% have already or plan to raise wages.

The DGBAS also released statistics on job vacancies for February showing an increase in demand driven by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and robust domestic consumption.

As of the end of February, there were 244,000 job vacancies in the industrial and service sectors, an increase of 18,000 from the end of November, an increase of 22,000 compared to the same period last year. The vacancy rate was 2.81%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous period, and 0.23 percentage points from the same period last year.

The number of vacancies in the manufacturing industry was 84,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous period, and an increase of 4,700 from the same period last year. The number of vacancies in the construction engineering industry was 16,000, a decrease of 2,300 from the previous period and an increase of 1,500 from the same period last year.

The number of job vacancies for professionals increased by 11,000 from the previous period and by 4,700 compared to the same period last year. For technicians and associated professionals, the number of vacancies decreased by 5,800 from the previous period but increased by 5,100 compared to the same period last year.