Hualien earthquake sends furloughed workers higher

Taipei, June 17 (CNA) A massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Hualien, eastern Taiwan in early April affected the tourism industry in the county, sending the overall number of workers placed on formal unpaid leave higher in the first half of June, the Ministry of Labor said Monday.

The temblor on April 3, which killed 18 and injured more than 1,100, prompted Hualien's transportation and logistics, hospitality, and entertainment and leisure industries to place more than 150 workers on furlough, said Li Yi-husan (李怡萱), a specialist with the MOL's Labor Conditions and Employment Equality.

As of June 15, the number of furloughed workers in the local hotel and food & beverage industry rose to 248 from 135 recorded at the end of May, while the figure in the transportation and logistics industry also rose to 32 from zero, data compiled by the MOL showed.

In addition, the service support industry, which includes travel agencies, placed 41 workers on furlough as of June 15, slightly up from 37 as of May 31, the data indicated.

Li said the MOL has provided assistance to affected workers in Hualien's tourism industry in the form of subsidies allocated to employers to allow furloughed employees to get training and leave their employment contracts intact.

In addition, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has also come up with a subsidy program to encourage tourists to go to Hualien, a way to alleviate the impact of the earthquake on the tourism industry, the major business in the county.

According to the MOL, the number of furloughed workers rose by 153 from 5,185 as of May 31 to 5,388 as of June 15, while the number of employers with unpaid leave programs fell to 262 from 263 over the 15-day period.

The number of furloughed workers in the export-oriented manufacturing sector fell to 4,550 as of June 15 from 4,624 at the end of May but still accounted for more than 85 percent of the country's total, including 2,704 registered in the information and electronics industry, the MOL data showed.

A precision machinery maker and a construction material in the local manufacturing sector also put more than 100 workers on furlough each as of June 15, with Li explaining that orders received by the two companies had become unstable.

On the other hand, a bicycle component provider stopped its unpaid leave program by putting about 120 workers back to production lines as of June 15 on the back of an increase in orders, Li said.

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.