Taiwan’s global competitiveness rankings improve, but labor groups not happy

In this year’s IMD world competitiveness rankings, Taiwan improved two spots from last year to 11th among 61 companies. Labor groups in Taiwan focused on one of more than 300 criteria in the survey – working hours -- to complain that the improvement came at the expense of the country’s workers. But the working hour figures didn’t change from the 2014 to the 2015 report, meaning it had no impact on the improved results. Students pack into a job fair, looking to find a spot in the job market. A total of 8,000 jobs with average starting pay of NT$35,000 a month are on offer, both figures five-year highs. But many there felt helpless at the long hours they would be asked to work.According to 2015 world competitiveness rankings figures, which date back to 2013, Taiwanese workers averaged 2,116 hours of work during the year, the 10th most of the 61 economies surveyed but about average for Asia. The figure was below working hours in Korea and Hong Kong but 4 to 5 percent higher than in Singapore and Japan. A labor group thought it was too high.Huang Yi-lingTaiwan OSH Link Chief ExecutiveOver the past four years there have been more than 300 workers who died of overwork. Taiwanese workers are sacrificing their health, lives and families for competitiveness. But these economic benefits have not reached the workers.Son Yu-lianTaiwan Labor Front Secretary-GeneralThis shows that Taiwan’s competitiveness has been built on Taiwanese workers’ low wages and long working hours. I don’t know if President Ma can sleep well after seeing this news. If he can, it shows that the government is truly apathetic.In fact, Son may have had the “news” wrong. Taiwan’s two-spot improvement was actually the result of a better economic performance, unrelated to labor issues. And the working hours figures used in the 2014 and 2015 reports were identical, meaning they had no effect on Taiwan’s improved position.