Taipei,
July 31 (CNA) The desire of Taiwan's
office workers to find side jobs has
soared to its highest level in four
years, reflecting growing income
insecurity amid the economic downturn,
according to the results of a survey
released Friday.
The
survey was conducted jointly by online
employment broker Pan Asia Job Bank and www.jcase.com.tw,
which specializes in part-time and
outsourced staffing services.
It
revealed that 39.44 percent of workers
responding to the survey have second
jobs, while 88.27 percent of those who
have not found side jobs intend to do
so.
Sixty-two
percent of respondents described
themselves as "very poor" or
"somewhat poor, " and 31.6
percent considered themselves as
"barely able to make ends
meet." Only 6.37 percent said they
"possess a small amount of
wealth" or are "quite
wealthy." The factors contributing
to the widespread feeling of poverty
among workers include shrinking
salaries, high unemployment, and heavy
pressure to repay home and car loans,
the survey found.
The
results also reflected the lack of
confidence among workers on the
employment front, with 62.66 percent of
respondents saying they are "really
not confident" or "not
confident" about finding a job or
succeeding in changing jobs.
While
23.59 percent of respondents described
their confidence level as
"so-so," 13.75 percent said
they are "somewhat confident"
or "very confident."
Meanwhile, 18.85 percent of respondents
said they have experienced pay cuts,
9.65 percent have been placed on unpaid
leave, and 11.75 percent have been laid
off.
Also,
56.38 percent of respondents said their
employers have lowered the starting
salaries for this year's graduates.
Joanne
Yang, marketing director for Pan Asia
Job Bank, said that although the economy
has shown signs of improvement recently,
most businesses remain worried about the
economic situation and have not
significantly increased their hiring of
permanent staff.
Yang
said, however, that there has recently
been a rise in the demand for temporary
employees, because businesses are
replacing permanent positions with
temporary positions to reduce their
operational risks.
The
survey was carried out between June 20
and July 17 among 2,196 office workers.
It had a margin of error of plus/minus
2.09 percent.
(By
Y.F. Low)
