Over 60% of Taiwan's Fresh Graduates and Discharged Draftees Still Looking for Work

Over 60% of Taiwan's job seekers who are new graduates or recently discharged from military service are still waiting for employment, according to a survey done in mid-August by yes123, a human resource service provider  in Taiwan.

Its online survey received 1,131 effective responses with 38.6% of the polled revealing having been hired and the remaining 61.4%  still looking for jobs. Of those still searching for jobs, 26% have not received even one invitation to interview, with 35% being clueless as to the job searching process.

The survey shows each fresh graduate had sent an average of 19 resumes to be invited for interview, and were hired the first time after being interviewed by five to six employers, meaning that each fresh graduate has to send about 100 resumes before getting a first job.

The average expected monthly salary of first-time employee is NT$28,803 (US$906.1), with actual pay being NT$25,576 (US$852.53) on average.

Most job seekers express willingness to pay for job-training, of which the five most preferred vocational programs being in sequence culinary teaching (51.7%), web design (46.7%), beverage making (33.2%), baking (26.5%), and animation design (25.7%).

Responding to the government's call to raise wages, some electric appliance companies in Taiwan  have increased or decided to increase salaries this year. Sampo Corp. recently announced raising wages by average 3% starting Aug. 1; Panasonic Taiwan Co. has raised salaries 2% on average starting July 1; LG Electronics Taiwan's wages has risen on average 4.7%, higher than the corresponding 4.5% in the last three years; Daikin Inc. has pushed salaries up 3% starting July 1; and Tatung Co. is assessing whether to raise pay this year due to having turned profitable in H1, 2014. (JL)