TAIPEI: The number of workers in Taiwan placed on unpaid leave jumped 4.65 times in the two months to the end of December last year as technology companies struggle with shrinking global demand, the Council of Labor Affairs said on Tuesday.
The government body said 109 companies had put 13,034 workers on unpaid leave by the end of 2011, compared with 12 companies involving 2,801 workers at the end of October and 85 companies involving 8,636 workers at the end of November.
"The number has stopped accelerating and the periods for which some workers were placed on leave were very short," said a council official. "The number is still at a contained level. We'll have to wait until after the Lunar New Year to see whether it rises further."
Implementing unpaid leave was a common practice following the 2008 global financial crisis. The highest level of unpaid leave on record occurred in February 2009, when 586 manufacturers suspended 239,000 workers.
The council said the increase in December was mainly because one company had started putting its 1,000 workers on unpaid leave in late December.
According to a media report, the company was electronic components maker Yageo Corp. In June last year, regulators blocked a management buyout plan by private equity fund KKR & Co LP.
Taiwan's technology companies generally saw a drop in November sales amid a slowdown in global demand. HTC Corp sales in the month fell 20 percent from a year earlier, the first annual decline in two years.
Export orders for Taiwan grew at the slowest pace in two years in November, and the government predicted a possible contraction for December as global demand for Taiwan's products slows.
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