Focus Taiwan
Date 11/02/2020
By: Chang Hsiung-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) The number of furloughed workers in Taiwan increased slightly last week from the previous week, but it declined in October for the fifth consecutive month, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said Monday.

As of Oct. 30, 685 companies had implemented unpaid leave programs, up 30 from a week ago, with a total of 13,303 workers on furlough, up 119 from a week earlier, data compiled by the MOL showed.

Over the past week, one more manufacturer began an unpaid leave program, but the overall number of workers on furlough in manufacturing declined by 67, according to Wang Chin-jung (王金蓉), a specialist in the MOL's Labor Conditions and Equal Employment Division.

Most of the increases in furloughed workers during the past week came in small enterprises in the retail/wholesale, transportation, travel, and public relations and marketing sectors with workforces of fewer than 50 people, Wang said.    [FULL  STORY]