Furloughed workers down over 500 as manufacturers' orders stabilize

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) The number of workers placed on formal unpaid leave programs fell more than 500 in the past half month as some firms in the export-oriented manufacturing sector saw their orders stopping falling in the wake of a revival of global demand, according to the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

Data released by MOL on Monday showed the number of furloughed workers fell to 7,288 as of March 15, down 505 from 7,793 as of the end of February, while the number of employers who implemented furlough programs also dropped to 336 from 357.

Speaking with CNA, Wang Chin-jung (王金蓉), deputy head of the MOL's Labor Conditions and Equal Employment Division, said the decline in furloughed workers largely reflected the improving employment in the manufacturing sector as orders showed signs of stabilizing.

In the manufacturing sector, the number of workers placed on furlough fell to 6,687 as of March 15 from 7,056 as of the end of February, the MOL's data showed.

In addition, the number of manufacturers with furlough programs also fell to 237 from 248, the data indicated.

Wang said the metal and electric machinery segment reported the largest fall of 701 of furloughed workers in the past 15 days.

According to Wang, a metal processing firm reported a cut of more than 300 furloughed workers and a machine tool maker put 100 workers back to production lines, while a bicycle component supplier reduced furloughed workers by about 90.

However, Wang said, some other industries in the manufacturing sector reported newly furloughed workers due to a decline in orders with an electronics component supplier placing about 500 on unpaid leave programs, and a printing firm also putting 90 workers on unpaid leave.

The MOL said the service sector continued to report stable employment in the post-COVID-19 era.

As of March 15, the number of furloughed workers in the retail and wholesale industry stood at 493, down 102 from the end of February, while the number of employers implementing unpaid leave programs also fell to 62 from 78.

Wang said most in the local retail and wholesale industry were small-sized with some of them correlated with the manufacturing sector in terms of operations.

In the service support industry, which is comprised of travel agencies, the number of furloughed workers also fell to 38 from 42 in the 15 days, according to the MOL.

Since the end of August, Wang said, the number of furloughed workers has been on the decline but the MOL will continue to watch the situation closely.

Currently, the MOL updates its furloughed worker data on the 1st and 16th of every month and reports on the number of employees placed on leave by companies registered with the ministry.

Most enterprises implementing furlough programs are small firms that employ fewer than 50 people.

Unpaid leave programs typically last for less than three months, with employees taking five to eight days of unpaid leave per month, according to the MOL.