1,330 companies put 26,323 people on furlough: MOL

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) A total of 1,330 companies in Taiwan had put 26,323 employees on furlough as of Sunday, according to statistics released Monday by the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

The latest numbers record an increase of 45 companies and 3,823 people on unpaid leave, up from the numbers released on May 25, that stood at 1,285 companies and 22,500 people, according to MOL statistics released that same day.

By industry, the manufacturing sector has reported nearly half (11,771) of all its people on unpaid leave, an increase of 1,602 people on furlough over the past week, according to Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), deputy director of the MOL's Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment.

According to Huang, the manufacturing sector has been hit hardest over the past few months because they have received fewer orders from foreign countries that have imposed lockdowns in their cities due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Another main source of the increased number of unpaid leave workers comes from the transportation and storage sector, which has seen an increase of 2,167 people on furlough, bringing the total to 3,046, according to the MOL.

All the increased number of 2,167 people on unpaid leave in the transportation and storage sector come from one local airline company, the MOL said.

Most of the companies using the unpaid leave system in Taiwan in recent months have workforces of fewer than 50 people who have been required to take an extra day or two off per week because of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the MOL said.

The figures only cover companies that have reached furlough agreements with employees and have reported them to the MOL.