Airline pilots remain Taiwan's highest-paid occupation: Survey

Taipei, May 29 (CNA) Airline pilots remained the highest-paid occupation in Taiwan last year, according to the Ministry of Labor's (MOL) latest occupational wage survey released Friday.

The survey showed that in terms of the 10 highest-paid occupations, airline pilots ranked first with a monthly salary of NT$298,000 (US$9,500), followed by certified actuaries with NT$203,000 and physicians at NT$180,000.

Professional athletes and ship supervisors, including harbor pilots, ranked fourth and fifth, with monthly salaries of NT$160,000 and NT$145,000 respectively.

Telecommunications engineers, lawyers, securities and financial traders and brokers, including financial advisers and underwriters, statisticians, and financial investment analysts placed sixth to 10th, with monthly wages ranging from NT$78,000 to NT$97,000.

Deputy Labor Minister Lee Chien-hung (李健鴻) said salary levels across industries are influenced by factors such as job risk, specialized skills and labor market scarcity, adding that the top 10 wage rankings have remained largely unchanged in recent years.

The survey also showed that among occupations with more than 5,000 employees, insurance agents, funeral service workers, travel consultants (including travel agency workers), and hairdressing and beauty professionals recorded annual monthly wage growth of more than 7 percent.

They were followed by aircraft maintenance workers, security guards, pet groomers and animal caretakers, childcare workers (including babysitters), beverage store workers, and scooter delivery riders.

Lee explained that other than aircraft maintenance workers and insurance agents, most of those occupations are relatively low-paid, adding that the stronger growth in monthly wages may be linked to successive minimum wage increases and labor shortages that have pushed up hiring pay.

Jasmine Mei (梅家瑗), head of the ministry's Department of Statistics, said some occupations recorded declines in annual monthly wage growth, including real estate agents (including property brokers) and securities and financial traders and brokers, at 8.9 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.

Salaries in those two industries are largely bonus-based, Mei said, adding that their annual salaries rose by 17.1 percent and 9.8 percent respectively in 2024.

The MOL conducts an annual survey on occupational wages, covering the number of full-time employees in each occupation, regular monthly wages in July, and average annual earnings per capita over the previous year.