Workweek policy prompts flurry of job searches: poll

FALLING INCOME:More than 40 percent of respondents said they were concerned about declining wages and reductions in other benefits due to new labor regulations

Staff writer, with CNA

Low salaries following the introduction of new workweek rules, which have increased labor costs and discouraged employers from distributing bonuses, is the top reason people are looking for new jobs, a survey by online job bank yes123 found.

The survey, conducted from Feb. 9 to Monday, showed that 91.8 percent of respondents said they planned to look for a new job this year.

Of those planning to change jobs, 57.8 percent said they had already started looking, the survey found.

Asked about the reason for seeking to change jobs, 48.9 percent cited low salaries.

Forty-four percent of those surveyed said they were concerned about declining wages and reductions in other benefits because of new labor regulations, which bolstered restrictions on working time and require employers to pay higher rates for overtime.

Respondents said that the new rules effectively make overtime impossible, because employers are not willing to pay the extra costs.

Some respondents said they were worried about being laid off if personnel are cut to control labor costs, the job bank said.

The survey showed that the five sectors most popular with job seekers were the technology and information sector (25.9 percent); the restaurant, hotel and tourism sector (23.8 percent); the wholesale, retail and trade sector (21.8 percent); the financial, insurance and accounting sector (20.4 percent); and the manufacturing sector (17.6 percent).

The new work rules, introduced on Dec. 23 last year, reduced the maximum permitted work hours from 84 hours every two weeks to 40 hours per week. In addition, workers are entitled to one mandatory day off and one “flexible” rest day per week — measures that could increase business operating costs.

Employers face much higher overtime costs if they ask people to work on their “flexible” day off, while they are not allowed to ask employees to work on their mandatory day off, as the rules stipulate that people can work no more than six days in a row.

The poll was conducted on randomly selected members via an online questionnaire.

A total of 1,176 valid samples were collected and the poll had a margin of error of 2.86 percentage points.