Taiwan – Number of furloughed workers edges up (Focus Taiwan)

The number of furloughed workers in Taiwan increased slightly last week even though two companies ended their furlough programs, bringing about 500 workers back to work, reports Focus Taiwan, citing data from  the Ministry of Labour. As of 23 October, 655 companies had implemented unpaid leave programs,...

India – Online recruitment slips 10% in September: Monster Employment Index

Online recruitment in India fell by 10% in September 2020 when compared to September 2019, according to data from the Monster Employment Index.

Month-on-month, the Index registered growth of 6%, indicating improving hiring sentiments among companies.

On a year-on-year basis, media & entertainment led...

New Zealand – Seek job ads down 28% in Q3, but shows signs of recovery

New job ads posted on Seek New Zealand decreased by 28% in the third quarter of 2020 when compared to the third quarter of 2019.

Job ads on Seek New Zealand were up 66% when comparing Q3 2020 to Q2 2020 as the country recovers from the impacts of Covid-19.

Janet Faulding, General Manager, Seek NZ, said,...

Australia – Workplace watchdog fines café after it deliberately underpays staff

Australia’s workplace watchdog, the Fair Work Ombudsman, secured a total of AUD 232,545 (USD 165,947) in penalties in court against the company that operates ‘Barry Café’, in Melbourne, and two of its directors after they deliberately underpaid 73 staff members AUD 180,641 (USD 128,886).

The 73...

Japan – Less than 20% of workers telecommute despite calls to do so amid pandemic (NHK World)

Less than 20% of workers in Japan were found to be telecommuting despite calls to do so to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, reports NHK World, citing a poll from the Japan Productivity Center. The poll wanted to find out if the pandemic had actually led to changes in the way people work in Japan....

Asia Pacific – Renrui HR provides third quarter business update, number of flexible staff increases

Renrui Human Resources Technology (6919: HKG), a mainland China-based flexible staffing services provided a business update on key financial indicators for the third quarter of 2020.

The board announced that the unaudited revenue and gross profit of the group for the three months ended 30 September 2020...

Australia – Contingent work up nearly 20% in September quarter, report finds

The number of casual job opportunities in Australia rose by 19.5% over the September quarter, according to the latest Sunsuper Australian job index. At the same time, contingent jobs, as a percentage of total employment vacancies, is at a record high at 33.2%

The Sunsuper Australian job index is the first...

Singapore – Nearly half a million low-income workers to receive nearly USD 600 billion in Workfare

Approximately 470,000 lower-income Singaporean workers will receive additional support from the Budget 2020 scheme to a total of SGD 810 million (USD 596.8 million) in Workfare Special payments.

These lower-income Singaporean workers began to receive their October payout yesterday.

Workfare was introduced...

India – Telecom infrastructure hiring surges amid Covid-19 (LiveMint)

Telecom infrastructure and engineering companies in India hired aggressively as remote working fuelled the demand for voice and data services, reports LiveMint citing data from staffing firm TeamLease’s subsidiary TeamLease Digital. This is in sharp contrast to widespread layoffs and pay cuts across...

Asia Pacific – Economic growth expected to contact 2.2%, but growth to pick up in 2021: IMF

Economic activity in the Asia Pacific region is expected to contract by 2.2% in 2020, due to a sharper-than-expected downturn in key emerging markets, according to the Regional Economic Outlook by the International Monetary Fund.

The 2.2% expected contraction in 2020 reflects a sharper contraction, notably...