The October 2021 manpower utilization survey released by the “General Accounting Office” of Taiwan’s administrative department on the 25th showed that in October last year, the number of employees in Taiwan was 11.445 million, a decrease of 17,000 or 0.15% compared with 2020. The number of full-time workers has declined for the second year in a row. The analysis believes that it is related to the post-epidemic period of the labor market.
According to reports from Lianhe Daily, Central News Agency and other media, the “General Accounting Office” usually conducts a manpower utilization survey in May every year and announces the results at the end of the year. Last year, the survey was delayed due to the epidemic.
Affected by the epidemic, in October 2021, there were 10.648 million full-time regular workers, accounting for 93.03% of the total employment, a decrease of 15,000 compared with 2020, the second consecutive year of decline. An official from the “General Accounting Office” said that the decrease in employment should be related to the reduction of the labor force and the withdrawal of some people from the workplace due to the epidemic.
In addition, the number of atypical (part-time, temporary or dispatched) workers plummeted by 20,000 at the time of the 2020 survey compared to 2019, to a total of 799,000, the first drop in nine years. Its total continued to fall to 797,000 in the 2021 survey, the smallest number since 2016. According to an analysis by officials of the “General Accounting Office”, although the reduction in the number of atypical workers is related to the reduction in the total number of employees, it may also be the result of the epidemic leading to the reduction of some job opportunities.
Regarding the reasons for non-labor workers to withdraw from the labor market, the survey showed that “contraction or closure of business in the workplace” due to the impact of the epidemic accounted for the most at 25.3%.
The survey also shows that in October 2021, there were 9.182 million employees, of which 1.845 million, or 20.09%, had worked remotely or from home due to the epidemic; however, after the epidemic eased, only 42,000 people continued to work remotely, accounting for 0.46%, it can be seen that remote office has not become the norm in the workplace.