Novatek ranks No. 1 in non-management median wages, TSMC No. 11

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Novatek Microelectronics Corp., a display driver integrated circuit designer in Taiwan, took the No. 1 title in terms of highest median wages for non-management employees in 2019, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, ranked 11th among the companies listed on the main board, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Data compiled by the TWSE showed the median wage received by non-management employees in Novatek hit NT$2.398 million (US$81,014) in 2019.

TSMC, the largest pure wafer foundry in Taiwan, ranked 11th, with median non-management wages at NT$1.596 million.

The stock exchange said that non-management median wage excluded earnings by managers and hourly-paid workers, and reflected the compensation for ordinary workers, rather than the average wage for all workers on the companies' payroll.

After Novatek, metal casing maker Foxconn Technology Co., a subsidiary of iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., came in second with its median wage at NT$2.388 million, the TWSE's data showed.

Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc. grasped the third spot with its median wage at NT$2.339 million, according to the TWSE.

The companies taking the No. 4 to 10th titles were: set-top box IC designer ALi Corp., communications network IC Realtek Semiconductor Corp., property developer Huaku Development Co., system on a chip (SOC) designer Global Unichip Corp., Toyota's local sales agent Hotai Motor Co., control IC designer ITE Tech. Inc. and display driver IC designer Sitronix Technology Corp.

Based on the statistics, except for Huaku and Hotai, the eight other companies among the top 10 came from the local semiconductor industry, with most of them in the IC design segment.

The data showed the IC designers tend to give their employees high compensation in a bid to keep their pool of talent to strengthen research and development, market analysts said.

Hon Hai, the world's largest contract electronics maker, ranked No. 16 among the listed companies on the main board, with its median wage at NT$1.538 million, according to the TWSE.

In early June, the TWSE released the average wage for all of the employees on the payroll in the companies listed on the main board in 2019 and Foxconn Technology took the first spot after issuing NT$3.05 million in employee earnings, ahead of Novatek's NT$2.71 million and MediaTek's NT$2.64 million.