TAIPEI (TVBS News)—Taiwan's median salary is NT$33,000, and the average monthly salary has increased 6.4% annually to NT$37,000, the Ministry of Labor (勞動部) stated on Wednesday (April 30). The report indicated that the number of new workforce entrants in 2024 reached 147,000, a 5.3% decrease from the previous year due to fewer graduates.
This comprehensive report, titled "2024 Initial Employee Salary Statistics," aims to illuminate the salary levels of new workforce entrants, including graduates' initial full-time job salaries. Women comprise 54.3% of this cohort, while men account for 45.7%. Among these fresh graduates, 71.7% hold university degrees, and 19.5% have completed postgraduate studies. Notably, 50.9% of new entrants choose to work in small and medium enterprises, with 49.1% opting for large corporations.
The statistics for 2025 highlight the significant impact of education on starting salaries. University graduates earn an average of NT$34,000, whereas postgraduate degree holders command NT$52,000, 1.5 times more than their university counterparts. Furthermore, gender disparities persist, with female new entrants earning only 91.3% of their male counterparts' salaries, a gap that widens to 11.8% among postgraduates.
Despite these disparities, the proportion of new entrants earning only the minimum wage has decreased to 18.7%, a 4.7 percentage point drop from the previous year. This marks the first time since 2021 that this figure has fallen below 20%, reflecting a positive trend amid labor shortages across various industries.