Share this

Feb 9, 2009

What the unemployment numbers don't say

ICRT:

Statistics from the Xinzhu Science Park seem to indicate the situation
involving companies asking employees to take unpaid leave could be worsening.

According to numbers from the Park administration today, about 100,000

workers and operators at the Park have been forced to take unpaid leave as a
result of the global economic recession....

According to the survey, the number of unpaid leave days averages one to
two days per week.
This is even worse than it sounds for a lot of people. I know workers in Pingtung who can't collect unemployment because they technically have a job -- already tough to find -- but who are asked to take off 3 months of the year on unpaid year. The workers then do this in shifts so that they all have at least some income more of the time.

Frankly, this unpaid leave things sounds like a twisted implementation on traditional leftist calls for spreading the work around to give people more free time and help create full employment.

No comments: