TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — According to the latest survey released by 1111 Job Bank, 90% of office workers are dissatisfied with their salary, the highest wage dissatisfaction rate seen in five years.
Of the survey's respondents, 75% said this year's salaries had completely stagnated. Only 25% reported receiving a raise in their monthly pay, with an average increase of NT$2,117 (US$65).
The reasons given for a raise included boosting employee morale at 33.3%, having a fixed salary adjustment mechanism at 30.1%, good individual performance at 23.3%, good overall company profits at 16.1%, and promotion with a salary increase at 13.8%.
The Ministry of Labor (MOL) was set to convene a basic salary review committee on Friday (Sept. 8) to decide on the increase in basic salary next year. It is estimated the minimum monthly salary will be increased to NT$27,470 and the basic hourly pay will be raised to NT$183.
Of the 75% of survey respondents who did not receive a pay raise this year, the reasons given were:
- The company does not have a regular salary adjustment system (61.8%)
- The company's profits are poor (18.6%)
- The boss does not agree to a raise (16.9%)
- Not being favored by the supervisor (13.5%)
- Insufficient seniority 12.4%
On average, respondents experienced a salary freeze period of up to three years and seven months. This means they did not receive any salary increases from the company, while holding the same position.
The survey also pointed out that 25.5% of the respondents had not received a salary increase for more than five years.
When asked if they had the courage to ask for pay raise, 54.7% of respondents said they would proactively seek a raise, and on avearge they plan on asking for it after two years and one month. However, 45.3% of office workers said they would not proactively seek a raise, no matter how long it has been since their last increase.
In addition, although 74.6% of office workers agree that raising the minimum wage will help protect vulnerable amd marginalized workers, the majority still believe that the most urgent issued to be resolved are:
- Reluctance of companies to give raises at (76.2%)
- Raises given are too small (55.6%)
- Domestic salaries are generally lower than in international job markets (53.4%)
- Opacity in salary allocation process makes negotiations difficult (22.7%)
- Excessive concentration of high-paying industries (19.8%)
This survey also found that office workers can increase their average salary by up to NT$7,346 by changing jobs. In addition to changing jobs, another common approach is to negotiate a raise by saying that they wish to leave.
Approximately 20% of office workers have asked for a salary increase while saying that they intend to leave their current position. Of workers who used this tactic, 9.3% have received a salary increase and were retained, 5.2% failed to receive a salary increase but were retained, and 5% failed to receive a salary increase and resigned.
The remaining 80% said that they "never used the prospect of resignation as a means to request a salary increase."
The survey was conducted from Aug. 14-Sept. 4, 2023. The poll gathered valid responses from 1,084 adults and had a sampling error of plus or minus 2.98 percentage points with a confidence level of 95%.
