With the easing of the pandemic around the world, the economy is gradually recovering; however, this will be followed by inflation and rising prices. To take care of entry-level employees, President Gary Wang announced today (30th) that Eastern Group will be increasing the salaries of employees from July 1, becoming the first corporate group in Taiwan to announce a salary increase during the pandemic. According to Eastern Group, the salary increase is mainly for the entry-level employees. According to each company’s respective situation, for full-time administrative personnel (excluding sales personnel) with a salary range of NT$45,000-NT$50,000 or below, and a service length of more than one year, their salary can be adjusted by 2-7% according to their seniority level.
The salary adjustment will be carried out for employees of the following Eastern Group subsidiaries: ETMall, Eastern Natural Beauty, ET-Life, ETWarm, and ETtoday. There are around 3200 employees who will be eligible. Employees of ETMall, Eastern Natural Beauty, ET-Life, and ETWarm whose salaries are below NT$50,000 and have a service length of more than one year may receive a pay adjustment of 2%, 3.5%, 6%, and 7% according to their seniority level if their performance is deemed as excellent by their supervisor. Although ETtoday, the top-rated online news media, is still making a loss, the company is still included in this wave of salary adjustments. Employees can get a salary adjustment of 4-6% according to their annual performance, as long as their salary is less than NT$45,000 and their service length exceeds 3.5 years.
President Gary Wang has always emphasized that “employees are family members, and employee security is social security.” At such a critical time of the pandemic, in addition to cooperating with the government’s prevention measures, and donating money and resources to contribute to society, the most important responsibility of the Group is to take good care of its employees. In fact, as the pandemic situation worsened, Eastern Group took the lead in the industry to protect the safety of its employees by offering a series of measures. First, the Group announced that it would pay the full cost of PCR screening for all employees. Then as vaccines became available, the Group offered free vaccine insurance to all employees. The Group also provided free health care supplements to employees to boost their immunity before vaccination, and many employees have declared, “It’s really heartwarming to have a boss who takes care of his employees like this.”
Gary Wang said that during the pandemic, many people are facing a reduction in income, and some have even lost their jobs. But this group of entry-level employees and young people have a lot more to bear as they not only have to carry the burden of caring for their families, but also need to face the pressure of inflation. The announcement of the salary increase, in addition to taking care of the livelihood of employees, is also to thank all employees for guarding their posts, fighting together to survive the pandemic. We also hope to lead by example and help the companies retain talents.