Taipei, Aug. 9 (CNA) The number of furloughed workers in Taiwan fell by 1,355 in the first week of August from a week earlier, as employment in the food and beverage and the wholesale and retail sectors improved, according to data released Monday by the Ministry of Labor (MOL).
As of Aug. 6, the number of workers on unpaid leave was 55,332, down from 56,687 on Aug. 2, according to MOL data.
The data also showed, however, an increase in the number of employers who had implemented unpaid leave programs in the first week of August, from 4,388 to 4,447.
That increase did not include the food, beverage and accommodation sector, where the number of businesses that had implemented furloughs fell by about 10 percent in the first week of August, according to Huang Wei-chen, director of the MOL's Department of Labor.
Huang told CNA that the travel and tourism industry saw a sharp increase in furloughed workers in the week as of Aug. 6, up by about 2,000 from the previous week, as the government's COVID-19 relief subsidies to businesses in that sector ended on July 31.
The number of employers in the travel and tourism sector implementing unpaid leave programs rose by 365 during the one-week period, he said.
Most of the enterprises with large numbers of workers on furlough were in the six special municipalities, including Taipei City where the total number of furloughed employees was 15,024 in the first week of August, Huang said.
While the number of furloughed workers and the number of employers adopting unpaid leave programs are likely to fluctuate later this month, employment is expected to improve, as some businesses have resumed operations since Taiwan lowered its COVID-19 alert to Level 2 on July 27, he said.
According to MOL data, the largest number of companies with furloughed workers was in the food, beverage and accommodation sector (1,053), the wholesale and retail industry (1,018), and the support services sector (936).
The food, beverage and accommodation industry also had the highest number of furloughed workers, at 23,281, followed by the wholesale and retail industry (8,187), the transportation and logistics industry (7,100), according to the data.
Most of the enterprises implementing furlough programs are small firms with work forces of fewer than 50 people, the MOL said.
The unpaid leave programs typically last less than three months, and the employees usually take five to eight days of unpaid leave per month, according to the MOL.
