Insideview
FFA survey on family friendly workplaces
The ECCT released the 2023 Family Friendly Workplace Survey Report at a Premium Event lunch. Read the full event report. Read the full survey report.
An initiative of the chamber’s Family Friendly Alliance (FFA), the report provides the results of a survey of 1,263 employees and 65 employers in Taiwan conducted in 2022 by Adecco Taiwan in cooperation with the ECCT. At the launch of the survey report, a summary of the main findings of the report was presented by Amy Hsin, Senior Director of the Staffing Division at Adecco Taiwan while a presentation was also given by Shih Keh-her, Deputy Minister of the National Development Council (NDC).
The purpose of the survey was to gain an understanding of the level of family friendliness of the workplace environment in Taiwan. Among the main findings of the survey were that reversing Taiwan’s low birth rate and population decline will require concerted efforts to address concerns about work-life conflicts, financial security and day care.
The survey posed 23 questions to employees and 15 questions for employers. Based on the results, the report lists some of the work-life conflicts commonly faced by employees and their needs and expectations for support. It also sets out challenges faced by employers and explores possible solutions.
Respondents agreed that there is a clear link between childcare subsidies, allowances and paid parental leave offered by companies and their willingness to have children. In addition, having flexible working hours and being able to work remotely were considered extremely helpful for workers who wished to balance work and family life.
On the question as to the most important factors when making job decisions, employees ranked work-family balance as the third most important factor after salary (1st) and job stability (2nd).
The report also contains chapters by members of the ECCT’s FFA in which they share information and best practices on how they are improving the family friendliness of their workplaces in Taiwan. These include providing flexible working arrangements, higher than the statutory requirements for parental leave, childcare support and promoting the government’s support policies for fertility treatment and child support.
In his presentation, Deputy NDC Minister Shih noted that the government’s budget for policies to boost the birth rate as well as support aged care had risen ten-fold over the past decade. However, he acknowledged that there is still a lot more that the government could do. In particular, he said that the shortage of affordable and quality childcare was a major factor discouraging young people from having children.
