Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) Taiwan recorded the sixth longest average working hours among 39 economies around the world in 2022, according to a report on international labor released by the country’s Ministry of Labor (MOL).
The report showed the average annual working hours of those employed in Taiwan stood at 2,008 hours in 2022, after Columbia’s 2,381 hours, Mexico’s 2,355 hours, Singapore’s 2,293 hours, Costa Rica’s 2,242 hours and Chile’s 2,026 hours.
Compared with other Asian countries, Taiwan’s annual working hours were shorter than Singapore’s, but longer than South Korea’s 1,904 hours (No. 8 among 39) and Japan’s 1,626 hours (No. 18 among 39), the MOL’s data indicated.
The MOL compiled the data on the 39 economies after comparing statistics collected by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Labour Organization, figures provided by the Labour Force In Singapore report, and data from other individual economies before the release of the report.
Taiwan’s average working hours in 2022 rose slightly from 2,000 in 2021, marking the first increase in eight years, the MOL said. However, compared with 2012, Taiwan’s figure fell by 133 hours from 2,141, the MOL added.
Speaking with CNA, Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), director of the MOL’s Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment, said on Saturday that the lower 2021 figure came as the local job market was affected by the escalating COVID-19 pandemic, which hurt domestic consumption and resulted in business downsizing in the lodging and food/beverage industry, retail and wholesale industry, with many firms putting employees on furlough.
In 2022, however, due to eased concerns over the spread of COVID-19, these domestic demand-oriented industries gradually returned to normal and raised their working hours, Huang said.
Before the increase in 2022, Taiwan’s average working hours a year had fallen gradually since 2014, when the figure stood at 2,135 hours, according to the MOL.
Referring to Taiwan’s ranking in sixth place for annual working hours in 2022, Huang said, the relatively high figure came as the number of those with part-time jobs in the country accounts for only 3.5 percent of the total workforce.
Among the 39 economies, the United States, the largest economy in the world, took the ninth place with its average working hours hitting 1,822 hours in 2022, the MOL report showed.
Several developed European countries recorded shorter working hours with Germany sitting No. 39 as its average working hours totaled 1,295 hours in the year, following Denmark (No. 38, 1,360 hours, the Netherlands (No. 37, 1,361 hours), Austria (No.36, 1,369 hours), Sweden (No. 35, 1,401) and Norway (No. 34, 1,409), the report added.
The United Kingdom ranked No. 28 with average working hours at 1,516 in 2022, while France was in 33rd spot after reporting 1,427 hours in average working hours, according to the report.
The report showed the number of those who had part-time jobs in Germany was 22.2 percent of the total workforce, while the ratio in Denmark stood at 18.0 percent and hit 36.8 percent in the Netherlands. In addition, those who had part-time jobs in Japan accounted for 25.1 percent of the total workforce, 16.4 percent in South Korea, 11.7 percent in the U.S., and 10.5 percent in Singapore, the report indicated.
