Furloughed workers fall below 2,000 as manufacturing sector improves

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) The number of workers in formal furlough programs in Taiwan fell below the 2,000-mark in the first half of March as employment in the manufacturing sector improved, according to the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

The number of workers in unpaid leave programs reported to the MOL fell 918 from 2,873 at the end of February to 1,955 as of March 15.

The number of employers that carried out furlough programs also fell 26 from 15 days ago to 109 as of March 15, the data showed.

Hou Sung-yen (侯松延), a specialist with the MOL's Department of Labor Conditions and Employment Equality, said the number of workers placed on furlough program in the export-oriented manufacturing sector fell 920 in the 15 days to 1,548.

Among the 11 employers who ended unpaid leave programs, Hou said, one power management solution provider, one machine tool maker, one cooling solution supplier and one passive electronics component maker brought workers back full time because of recoveries in orders.

Still, the manufacturing sector still accounted for almost 80 percent of the total number of furloughed workers as of March 15, MOL data showed.

In the service sector, retail and wholesale companies had the highest number of furloughed workers at 264 as of March 15, up from 217 as of the end of February.

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

Most of the enterprises implementing furlough programs are small companies 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.