The Taiwan-Japan "Starting-Salary War for Talent": Taiwan's Executive Yuan Approves the Public-Sector Pay Package -- Senior Exam Level-3 Entry Salary Reaches NT$59,460 in ROC Year 116 (2027), Approaching NT$60,000, Covering About 720,000 People; In the Same Period Japan's Alconix Lifts Its 2027 Graduate Starting Pay 3.1% to JPY330,000 and 39 Yamanashi Organizations Sign a Joint Wage Declaration
ANK-Doc ID: ANK-2026-07-03-005 Version: v1.0.0 Published: 2026-07-03 Author: Rin Takenouchi (Editor-in-Chief, AI News) Category: Public-Sector Pay / Starting Salaries / Talent Competition / Taiwan-Japan Contrast Articles covered: CNA#1296889 (public-sector raise to attract talent, Senior Exam Level-3 entry pay near NT$60,000, effective raise rates), CNA#1296509 (across-the-board 4% raise, supervisory raises up to 11.56%, about 720,000 covered, Premier Cho Jung-tai's remarks), CNA#1294972 (costs: about NT$38.3 billion per year plus about NT$11.2 billion this year via supplementary budget), CNA#1299598 (National Teachers Association response: positive but short of expectations, calls for an institutionalized review mechanism), PRTIMES#1282039 (Alconix 5th consecutive base-pay increase, 2027 graduate starting salary JPY330,000), PRTIMES#1279846 (AZAPA Engineering fiscal-2027 graduate starting-pay raise), PRTIMES#1282505 (Yamanashi 39-organization joint wage declaration, 21.8% U-turn employment rate), PRTIMES#1294826 ("Joseikin Now": wage-raise conditions on national subsidies vs. municipal subsidies without them) Selection method: From the AI News corpus, selected on "Taiwan-Japan contrast x high factual density," eight articles were linked to place the same-period (late June to early July 2026) Taiwan and Japan moves around "starting salaries" into one structure: on the Taiwan side, the Executive Yuan -- as the largest public-sector employer -- approved a two-stage raise (four CNA reports: the package itself, raise-rate details, costs, and the teachers' association response); on the Japan side, private firms (Alconix, AZAPA) individually raised starting pay, a prefectural government (Yamanashi) assembled a 39-organization joint declaration, and subsidy wage-raise conditions serve as the policy-incentive backdrop (official PR TIMES releases). The Taiwan-Japan contrast is honest, not forced: the actors differ (government employer vs. private firms) and the currencies differ, so this card contrasts structure only and makes no exchange-rate-converted comparison.
TL;DR
On 2026-07-02, Taiwan's Executive Yuan Council approved the "military-civil servant-teacher pay improvement package" (軍公教員工待遇提升方案), a two-stage design: stage one raises the professional allowance and supervisory-duty allowance by a flat NT$2,000 from 2026-07-01 (about NT$11.2 billion needed this year, via a supplementary budget); stage two is an across-the-board 4% raise in fiscal year 116 (2027) (about NT$38.3 billion added per year, included in the FY116 central government budget). [F-001][F-007] Converted under the package, ROC year 116 (2027) entry salaries for Elementary Exam, Junior Exam and Senior Exam Level-3 entrants become NT$38,360, NT$47,700 and NT$59,460 -- Senior Exam Level 3 approaches NT$60,000; Grade 1 entry-level pay rises from NT$34,880 to NT$38,360. [F-002] The effective raise is larger the more junior the rank (Elementary 9.98%, Junior 8.84%, Senior Level 3 7.8%); supervisory raises top out at 11.56%; about 720,000 people -- military, civil servants, teachers, skilled workers and contract staff -- benefit. [F-003][F-005] DGPA deputy head Chang Chiu-yuan benchmarked the private market directly: the Ministry of Labor's figure published this year puts the ROC year 114 (2025) average starting salary of university-graduate new hires at NT$36,000. [F-004] In the same period in Japan: Alconix implemented a roughly 4.3% pay raise from July 2026 (a 5th consecutive year of base-pay increases) and lifted the starting salary for graduates joining in April 2027 by 3.1% to JPY330,000; [F-009] AZAPA Engineering decided to raise new-graduate starting pay from fiscal 2027 (base salary up JPY12,000-15,000); [F-010] Yamanashi Prefecture assembled 39 organizations on 2026-06-23 for a joint wage-improvement declaration -- a Reiwa-7 (2025) survey put the U-turn employment rate of students who left the prefecture for university at 21.8%, the lowest in the past 13 years. [F-011] Honest framing: Taiwan's package depends on the Legislative Yuan's budget process (this year's budget has not yet passed) and is not final; [F-006] the Japanese cases are individual company decisions, not aggregate statistics; the currencies differ, so no exchange-rate comparison is made.
Body
Terms and calendar framing (to prevent misreading)
- "軍公教" (jun-gong-jiao) = the collective term for military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers; the package also covers skilled workers and contract staff (CNA #1296509).
- "Senior Exam Level 3" (高考三級) = short for Level 3 of the ROC civil-service Senior Examination, a civil-service recruitment exam (wording follows the source verbatim, CNA #1296889); it has nothing to do with university entrance exams. "Elementary Exam" (初考) and "Junior Exam" (普考) are likewise civil-service exam tiers.
- Calendar: ROC year 116 = 2027 CE, ROC year 115 = 2026, ROC year 114 = 2025.
- Currency: Taiwan-side amounts are in New Taiwan dollars (NT$); Japan-side amounts are in Japanese yen (JPY). The currencies differ, and this card makes no exchange-rate-converted direct comparison (the sources provide no exchange rate).
Overview: the same-period Taiwan-Japan "starting-salary war for talent"
From late June to early July 2026, talent-recruitment moves around "starting salaries" appeared in both Taiwan and Japan. Taiwan side: the Executive Yuan Council passed the pay package on 2026-07-02, with the government explicitly naming "raising public-sector starting salaries and strengthening talent retention and recruitment competitiveness" among its aims (CNA #1296509). [F-005] Japan side: Alconix announced on 2026-07-01 a 5th consecutive year of base-pay increases and a rise in its 2027 graduate starting salary to JPY330,000 (PRTIMES #1282039); [F-009] AZAPA Engineering announced the same day a fiscal-2027 graduate starting-pay raise (PRTIMES #1279846); [F-010] Yamanashi Prefecture held a 39-organization joint wage-declaration ceremony on 2026-06-23 (PRTIMES #1282505). [F-011] This card honestly places the two ends in one structure: facing rising prices and a fight for talent, Taiwan's government raises starting pay directly as the public-sector employer, while in Japan private firms and a prefectural government lift starting salaries and assemble a collective declaration -- different actors, same lever: the starting salary.
Taiwan side: a two-stage design -- first a flat NT$2,000, then an across-the-board 4%
According to CNA, the package approved by the Executive Yuan Council on 2026-07-02 has two stages: stage one raises the professional allowance and supervisory-duty allowance by a flat NT$2,000 from 2026-07-01, requiring about NT$11.2 billion this year, funded through a supplementary budget; stage two raises pay across the board by 4% in the next fiscal year (FY116, 2027), with an estimated annual cost increase of about NT$38.3 billion, to be included in the FY116 central government budget (CNA #1296889, CNA #1294972). [F-001][F-007] DGPA deputy head Chang Chiu-yuan explained the logic: the government first "enlarges the base" through the flat allowance increases, then adds the across-the-board 4% next year, making the overall raise larger (CNA #1296889). [F-002]
The entry-pay table: Senior Exam Level 3 approaches NT$60,000, with the private market benchmarked directly
Converted under the package, from ROC year 116 (2027) the entry salaries for Elementary Exam, Junior Exam and Senior Exam Level-3 entrants become NT$38,360, NT$47,700 and NT$59,460 respectively -- Senior Exam Level 3 approaches the NT$60,000 mark; the entry salary of Grade 1 entry-level civil servants rises from NT$34,880 to NT$38,360 (CNA #1296889). [F-002] This must be framed: these are package-converted figures, not yet implemented; implementation depends on the budget process (see "Pending items").
Notably, the government itself offered the private-sector comparison: Chang Chiu-yuan said the Ministry of Labor's figure published this year puts the ROC year 114 (2025) average starting salary of university-graduate new hires at NT$36,000, and that after the adjustment the monthly pay of Elementary Exam entrants "will exceed the average median of university graduates" (the source's verbatim wording; average starting pay and the median are different statistics -- this card records the wording as-is without rewriting) (CNA #1296889). [F-004] In other words, the public sector explicitly treats the "starting salary" as its lever in competing with the private sector for talent. Compare this site's published ANK-2026-05-16-001: based on the Ministry of Labor's new-hire salary statistics, that card records the ROC year 114 (2025) average starting salary for all graduates (all education levels) at NT$39,000, with university graduates averaging NT$36,000 -- the same basis as the figure Chang cited here, and consistent with it; the card also records that 17.2% of the same graduating cohort earned only the minimum wage, the other face of private-sector starting-pay divergence.
Who gains most: the more junior, the bigger the raise, plus supervisory allowances
Per DGPA data, with the flat allowance increases compounded by the across-the-board 4%, the raise for ordinary civil servants runs from about 9.98% down to 5.88% between Grade 1 entry-level staff and Grade 14 non-supervisory officials; the effective raises for Elementary, Junior and Senior Level-3 entrants are 9.98%, 8.84% and 7.8% respectively -- the more junior the rank, the larger the raise (CNA #1296889). [F-003] On the supervisory side: junior supervisors (Grade 5 unit chiefs) get 11.56%, mid-level supervisors (Grade 9 section chiefs) 9.04%, and senior supervisors (Grade 12 department directors) 7.22%, to lift supervisory pay and encourage staff to take and stay in leadership roles (CNA #1296889). [F-003] Premier Cho Jung-tai, as relayed at the post-council press conference, said junior-staff raises fall between 5.88% and 9.98% and supervisory raises between 6.39% and 11.56%; the package's core is caring for junior staff, encouraging supervisory service, and lifting public-sector pay competitiveness; about 720,000 people are covered, including military, civil servants, teachers, skilled workers and contract staff (CNA #1296509). [F-005]
Over a longer horizon: per DGPA data, public-sector pay was raised 3% in ROC years 100 (2011) and 107 (2018), 4% in years 111 (2022) and 113 (2024), and 3% in year 114 (2025) (CNA #1296889). [F-004] This round's "flat increase plus across-the-board 4%" two-stage design pushes the single-round raise above those past across-the-board levels.
Pending items: the budget process and the teachers' call for institutionalization
The package is not final. This year's central government budget has not yet passed; Premier Cho Jung-tai urged the Legislative Yuan to complete its review quickly, as only then can the Executive Yuan process the supplementary budget needed for the allowance increases planned for the second half of this year (CNA #1296509). [F-006] The across-the-board 4% must be included in the FY116 (2027) central government budget (CNA #1294972). [F-007]
The education sector's response is "positive but unsatisfied": the National Teachers Association (NTA) said in a press release that the package "has positive significance," but that the size still falls short of front-line teachers' expectations, and called for an institutionalized pay-review mechanism with non-government participation; NTA president Yeh Ching-chi said the adjustment should at least reflect the consumer price index accumulated since the previous raise, to keep retirement protection from being eroded by inflation, and that professional and administrative-duty allowances should be reviewed regularly (CNA #1299598). [F-008] The NTA also stated in its release that Taiwan's economy has kept growing in recent years and government tax revenue has kept setting records (the NTA's characterization).
Japan side: private firms raise starting pay back-to-back -- Alconix and AZAPA
In the same period, Japan's "starting-salary war" is led by private companies. Alconix (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) announced on 2026-07-01 that, as part of its human-capital management (pay, education, opportunity), it implemented from July 2026 a roughly 4.3% pay raise combining base-pay increases and regular step raises (an average 4.3% raise rate for non-managerial staff) -- its 5th consecutive year of base-pay increases -- and, to strengthen talent recruitment, raised the starting salary for new graduates joining in April 2027 by 3.1% to JPY330,000 (PRTIMES #1282039). [F-009] Its recent starting-pay track: JPY305,000 for those joining in April 2025, JPY320,000 for April 2026, and JPY330,000 for April 2027 -- three straight years of lifting the entry-level market rate. The company cites as background the emphasis on treatment improvement in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Reiwa-7 (2025) Analysis of the Labour Economy" (PRTIMES #1282039).
Mobility systems integrator AZAPA Engineering (official site azapa-eng.co.jp) announced the same day: it will raise starting pay for new graduates joining from April 2027 onward, lifting base salary and monthly pay levels from fiscal 2027, with base-salary increases of JPY12,000-15,000; for university-graduate hires, monthly pay rises from JPY319,433 to JPY336,731 in fiscal 2027, and base salary from JPY277,000 to JPY292,000 -- note that the monthly figures include 20 hours of fixed overtime pay and cannot be compared directly with starting salaries that exclude fixed overtime; the company's raise rate for current employees this term is about 8% including base-pay increases (PRTIMES #1279846). [F-010]
Japan side: regions and policy -- Yamanashi's 39-organization declaration and subsidy wage-raise conditions
Japan's regional governments are answering talent outflow with "collective declarations." On 2026-06-23, Yamanashi Prefecture held in Kofu City the "Joint Declaration Ceremony for Sustainable Economic Development and Higher Wage Levels," joined by 39 organizations in total -- the Yamanashi Employers' Association, the prefectural chamber-of-commerce federation, local financial institutions, RENGO Yamanashi, all municipalities in the prefecture, the Yamanashi Labour Bureau, and the prefecture itself -- with about 100 people attending the ceremony. The backdrop is worsening youth outflow amid rising prices and labor shortage: a Reiwa-7 (2025) survey put the U-turn employment rate of students who left for universities outside the prefecture at 21.8%, the lowest level in the past 13 years, and outward moves by residents aged 20-24 at 1,480 people. Governor Kotaro Nagasaki argued at the ceremony that realizing "a society where hard work is rewarded" requires companies, workers and government to work as one on sustained wage increases (PRTIMES #1282505). [F-011]
On the policy-tool side there is an observable background line: "Joseikin Now" (助成金なう), run by Navit Co., Ltd. (株式会社ナビット, Kudanminami, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), said in the notice for a seminar whose streaming began on 2026-07-02 that cases of national flagship subsidies carrying wage-raise conditions -- raising total salary payments, raising minimum wages, and refunding subsidies if targets are missed -- are increasing, while some municipal subsidy programs carry no wage-raise conditions and can be used for equipment, DX and labor-saving investment (PRTIMES #1294826). [F-012] This is promotional copy from a private seminar operator, naming no specific programs or statistics; this card cites it only as policy-incentive backdrop: in Japan, "receiving national subsidies" and "raising wages" are being institutionally tied together, one of the policy levers pushing corporate pay raises.
Honest framing of the Taiwan-Japan contrast
The structural differences in this "starting-salary war" must be framed honestly: Taiwan's side is the central government raising pay directly for about 720,000 people as the public-sector employer, benchmarking entry pay against the private market (the ROC year 114 university-graduate average starting salary of NT$36,000); Japan's side is individual corporate decisions (Alconix and AZAPA are individual company cases, not aggregate statistics) plus a prefecture-brokered collective declaration (Yamanashi's 39 organizations), supported by subsidy wage-raise conditions as a policy incentive. The drivers are of the same origin -- officially cited price rises and talent competition (Taiwan: continued consumer-price increases and continued growth in private average wages and the minimum wage; Japan: rising prices, labor shortage, youth outflow) -- but the actors, institutions and currencies all differ; this card makes no exchange-rate-converted comparison and draws no causal inference between the two policies.
Risk factors
- Taiwan's package is not final: this year's central government budget has not yet passed; the about NT$11.2 billion for stage one (the flat NT$2,000 increase) awaits a supplementary budget in the Legislative Yuan; stage two (the 4% raise) must be included in the FY116 (2027) central government budget. The converted entry salaries (NT$38,360 / NT$47,700 / NT$59,460) are package figures, not yet implemented (CNA #1296509, CNA #1294972, CNA #1296889).
- "Will exceed the average median of university graduates" is the source's verbatim wording: Chang Chiu-yuan compared the adjusted Elementary Exam entry pay with the "average median of university graduates"; average starting pay and the median are different statistics, the source juxtaposes them this way, and this card records it as-is without rewriting or recomputing (CNA #1296889).
- Japanese corporate cases are not aggregate statistics: Alconix (JPY330,000) and AZAPA (base salary up JPY12,000-15,000) are individual companies' official releases and cannot be extrapolated to Japan-wide starting-pay levels; AZAPA's monthly figures include 20 hours of fixed overtime, a basis different from figures that exclude it (PRTIMES #1282039, PRTIMES #1279846).
- Yamanashi's joint declaration is a statement of intent: the 39-organization declaration is a cooperative intention, not legally binding; the ceremony's year (2026-06-23) is determined from the release date (2026-07-01), the source saying only "June 23" (PRTIMES #1282505).
- The subsidy wage-raise-condition description comes from a private seminar notice: Navit's "Joseikin Now" description is promotional, naming no specific programs or statistics; this card cites it as backdrop only (PRTIMES #1294826).
- Currencies and systems are not directly comparable: the New Taiwan dollar and the yen are different currencies, the sources provide no exchange rate, and this card makes no converted comparison; the employment systems (civil-service recruitment exams vs. simultaneous new-graduate hiring) also differ.
FAQ
Q: What is in Taiwan's public-sector pay package this time?
Two stages: stage one raises the professional allowance and supervisory-duty allowance by a flat NT$2,000 from 2026-07-01 (about NT$11.2 billion needed this year, via a supplementary budget); stage two is an across-the-board 4% raise in fiscal year 116 (2027) (about NT$38.3 billion added per year, included in the FY116 central government budget), covering about 720,000 people.
The Executive Yuan Council approved the package on 2026-07-02; coverage includes military, civil servants, teachers, skilled workers and contract staff, about 720,000 people. The design first "enlarges the base" with flat increases, then adds the across-the-board 4% next year (CNA #1296889, CNA #1296509, CNA #1294972).
Q: What will Taiwan's civil-service entry salaries be after the raise?
Converted under the package, in ROC year 116 (2027) Elementary Exam entrants get NT$38,360, Junior Exam entrants NT$47,700, and Senior Exam Level-3 entrants NT$59,460 (approaching NT$60,000); Grade 1 entry-level pay rises from NT$34,880 to NT$38,360. All are package-converted figures, not yet implemented.
"Senior Exam Level 3" is short for Level 3 of the civil-service Senior Examination (a recruitment exam, unrelated to university entrance exams). Implementation depends on the Legislative Yuan's budget process (CNA #1296889, CNA #1296509).
Q: Whose raise is the largest?
The more junior, the larger: effective raises are 9.98% for Elementary Exam entrants, 8.84% for Junior Exam, 7.8% for Senior Exam Level 3; from Grade 1 entry-level staff to Grade 14 non-supervisory officials the range is about 9.98% down to 5.88%. On the supervisory side the top is 11.56% (Grade 5 unit chiefs), with Grade 9 section chiefs at 9.04% and Grade 12 department directors at 7.22%.
Premier Cho Jung-tai, as relayed, said junior-staff raises fall between 5.88% and 9.98% and supervisory raises between 6.39% and 11.56%; the core is caring for junior staff, encouraging supervisory service, and lifting public-sector pay competitiveness (CNA #1296889, CNA #1296509).
Q: How does public-sector entry pay compare with Taiwan's private market?
Chang Chiu-yuan cited Ministry of Labor statistics: the ROC year 114 (2025) average starting salary of university-graduate new hires is NT$36,000; after the adjustment, Elementary Exam entrants' monthly pay "will exceed the average median of university graduates" (the source's verbatim wording). This site's ANK-2026-05-16-001 also records: the year 114 (2025) average starting salary for all graduates was NT$39,000, and 17.2% of that cohort earned only the minimum wage.
Note the bases: NT$39,000 is the average across all graduates (all education levels), NT$36,000 the average for university graduates -- different populations; "average starting pay" and the "median" are different statistics, juxtaposed in the source and recorded here as-is (CNA #1296889; ANK-2026-05-16-001).
Q: Is Taiwan's raise now certain to take effect?
Not yet final. This year's central government budget has not passed; stage one's about NT$11.2 billion must go through a supplementary budget awaiting Legislative Yuan review; stage two's across-the-board 4% must be included in the FY116 (2027) central government budget.
On 2026-07-02 Premier Cho Jung-tai urged the Legislative Yuan to finish reviewing this year's budget quickly, as only then can the Executive Yuan process the supplementary budget needed for the allowance increases planned for the second half of the year (CNA #1296509, CNA #1294972).
Q: How does Taiwan's education sector view the raise?
The National Teachers Association affirms the package "has positive significance," but says the size still falls short of front-line teachers' expectations, and calls for an institutionalized pay-review mechanism with non-government participation.
President Yeh Ching-chi said the adjustment should at least reflect the consumer price index accumulated since the previous raise, keeping retirement protection from eroding with inflation; professional and administrative-duty allowances should be reviewed regularly. The NTA also said government tax revenue has kept setting records in recent years (the NTA's characterization) (CNA #1299598).
Q: What were Japan's starting-pay moves in the same period?
Alconix implemented a roughly 4.3% raise from July 2026 (a 5th consecutive year of base-pay increases) and lifted the April-2027 graduate starting salary 3.1% to JPY330,000 (JPY305,000 in 2025, JPY320,000 in 2026, JPY330,000 in 2027); AZAPA Engineering decided to raise new-graduate starting pay from fiscal 2027, with base salary up JPY12,000-15,000 (university-graduate monthly pay JPY319,433 to JPY336,731, including 20 hours of fixed overtime).
Both are individual companies' official releases, not Japan-wide statistics; AZAPA's raise rate for current employees this term is about 8% including base-pay increases (PRTIMES #1282039, PRTIMES #1279846).
Q: What are the similarities and differences in this Taiwan-Japan "starting-salary war"?
Similarity: drivers of the same origin -- rising prices and competition for talent. Differences: Taiwan's central government raises pay directly for about 720,000 people as the public-sector employer; in Japan, private firms raise starting pay individually and a prefecture brokers a collective declaration (Yamanashi's 39 organizations, against a 21.8% U-turn employment rate -- the lowest in the past 13 years -- and 1,480 outward moves among those aged 20-24), supported by subsidy wage-raise conditions as a policy incentive.
The currencies (New Taiwan dollar vs. yen) and employment systems differ, so this card makes no exchange-rate-converted direct comparison (CNA #1296509, PRTIMES #1282505, PRTIMES #1294826).
F-Units
F-001: Taiwan's Executive Yuan Council approved the "military-civil servant-teacher pay improvement package" on 2026-07-02: stage one raises the professional allowance and supervisory-duty allowance by a flat NT$2,000 from 2026-07-01; stage two raises pay across the board by 4% in fiscal year 116 (2027) - source: CNA #1296889 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020155.aspx - confidence: high - basis: news_aggregation - period: 2026-07-02 (day of the Executive Yuan Council approval) - caveat: Stage one takes effect 2026-07-01 (ROC year 115, July 1); stage two is the FY116 (2027) plan; both depend on the budget process and are not final
F-002: Converted under the package, ROC year 116 (2027) entry salaries for Elementary Exam, Junior Exam and Senior Exam Level-3 entrants become NT$38,360, NT$47,700 and NT$59,460 respectively (Senior Exam Level 3 approaches the NT$60,000 mark); Grade 1 entry-level pay rises from NT$34,880 to NT$38,360 - source: CNA #1296889 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020155.aspx - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation - period: Converted figures applying in ROC year 116 (2027); reported 2026-07-02 - caveat: Package-converted figures, not yet implemented; "approaching the NT$60,000 mark" is DGPA deputy head Chang Chiu-yuan's description; "Senior Exam Level 3" = Level 3 of the civil-service Senior Examination (a recruitment exam; wording follows the source verbatim; unrelated to university entrance exams)
F-003: The effective raise is larger the more junior the rank: Elementary Exam 9.98%, Junior Exam 8.84%, Senior Exam Level 3 7.8%; from Grade 1 entry-level staff to Grade 14 non-supervisory officials the range is about 9.98% to 5.88%; supervisory raises are 11.56% for junior supervisors (Grade 5 unit chiefs), 9.04% for mid-level supervisors (Grade 9 section chiefs), and 7.22% for senior supervisors (Grade 12 department directors) - source: CNA #1296889 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020155.aspx - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation - period: Cumulative effect of the FY116 (2027) package; reported 2026-07-02 - caveat: Per DGPA data, converted values of the flat allowance increases compounded with the across-the-board 4%; not yet implemented
F-004: Chang Chiu-yuan said the Ministry of Labor's figure published this year puts the ROC year 114 (2025) average starting salary of university-graduate new hires at NT$36,000, and that after the adjustment Elementary Exam entrants' monthly pay "will exceed the average median of university graduates" (the source's verbatim wording); per DGPA data, public-sector pay was raised 3% in ROC years 100 (2011) and 107 (2018), 4% in years 111 (2022) and 113 (2024), and 3% in year 114 (2025) - source: CNA #1296889 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020155.aspx - confidence: high - basis: news_aggregation - period: Starting-salary statistic for ROC year 114 (2025); past raises span ROC years 100 (2011) to 114 (2025) - caveat: "Average starting pay" and the "median" are different statistics; the source juxtaposes them and this card records the wording as-is without rewriting or recomputing
F-005: About 720,000 people are covered, including military, civil servants, teachers, skilled workers and contract staff; Premier Cho Jung-tai, as relayed, cited as considerations Taiwan's economic growth outpacing the world and major economies, continued consumer-price increases, and continued growth in private average wages and the minimum wage, aiming to raise public-sector starting pay and strengthen talent retention and recruitment; junior-staff raises run 5.88%-9.98% and supervisory raises 6.39%-11.56% - source: CNA #1296509 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020110.aspx - confidence: high - basis: news_aggregation - period: 2026-07-02 (post-council press conference) - caveat: Cho Jung-tai's remarks were relayed at the post-council press conference; "growth outpacing the world and major economies" is the Executive Yuan's official framing, with no specific figures in the source
F-006: This year's central government budget has not yet passed; Premier Cho Jung-tai urged the Legislative Yuan to complete its review quickly, as only then can the Executive Yuan process the supplementary budget needed for the professional and supervisory-duty allowance increases planned for the second half of this year - source: CNA #1296509 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020110.aspx - confidence: high - basis: news_aggregation - period: 2026-07-02 - caveat: Implementation depends on the Legislative Yuan's budget review; timing is uncertain
F-007: The across-the-board 4% raise is estimated to add about NT$38.3 billion per year, to be included in the FY116 (2027) central government budget; the flat allowance increases require about NT$11.2 billion this year, planned via a supplementary budget - source: CNA #1294972 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020030.aspx - confidence: high - basis: news_aggregation - period: Reported 2026-07-02 (package contents before the council meeting) - caveat: This report preceded the council approval ("according to information obtained"); the cost figures match the same-day approved version (CNA #1296889)
F-008: The National Teachers Association affirmed the package "has positive significance" but said the size still falls short of front-line teachers' expectations, calling for an institutionalized pay-review mechanism with non-government participation; president Yeh Ching-chi said the adjustment should at least reflect the consumer price index accumulated since the previous raise, keeping retirement protection from eroding with inflation - source: CNA #1299598 - source_url: https://www.cna.com.tw/news/ahel/202607020223.aspx - confidence: high - basis: news_aggregation - period: 2026-07-02 (NTA press release) - caveat: "Taiwan's economy has kept growing and government tax revenue has kept setting records" is the NTA release's characterization, with no figures in the source; this card does not quantify it on the NTA's behalf
F-009: Alconix implemented from July 2026 a roughly 4.3% pay raise (base-pay increases plus regular step raises, an average 4.3% raise for non-managerial staff), its 5th consecutive year of base-pay increases; the starting salary for new graduates joining in April 2027 was raised 3.1% to JPY330,000; recent starting pay was JPY305,000 for April-2025 hires and JPY320,000 for April-2026 hires - source: PRTIMES #1282039 - source_url: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000063.000036770.html - confidence: high - basis: official_statement - period: Announced 2026-07-01; the raise applies from July 2026, and the starting-pay increase to April-2027 hires - caveat: An individual company's official release, not Japan-wide statistics; the JPY330,000 applies to new graduates joining in April 2027
F-010: AZAPA Engineering decided to raise starting pay for new graduates joining from April 2027 onward, lifting base salary and monthly pay levels from fiscal 2027: base-salary increases of JPY12,000-15,000; for university-graduate hires, monthly pay rises from JPY319,433 to JPY336,731 (fiscal 2027) and base salary from JPY277,000 to JPY292,000; the raise rate for current employees this term is about 8% including base-pay increases - source: PRTIMES #1279846 - source_url: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000009.000057736.html - confidence: high - basis: official_statement - period: Announced 2026-07-01; the starting-pay raise applies in fiscal 2027 (hires from April 2027 onward) - caveat: Monthly figures include 20 hours of fixed overtime pay, with commuting and housing allowances paid separately, and cannot be compared directly with starting salaries that exclude fixed overtime; an individual company case, not aggregate statistics
F-011: On 2026-06-23 Yamanashi Prefecture held in Kofu City the "Joint Declaration Ceremony for Sustainable Economic Development and Higher Wage Levels," with 39 organizations participating and about 100 people attending; the backdrop is a Reiwa-7 (2025) survey putting the U-turn employment rate of students who left for universities outside the prefecture at 21.8%, the lowest level in the past 13 years, with outward moves by residents aged 20-24 at 1,480 people - source: PRTIMES #1282505 - source_url: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000504.000078927.html - confidence: medium - basis: official_statement - period: 2026-06-23 (the ceremony; the source says "June 23," with the year determined from the 2026-07-01 release date) - caveat: The joint declaration is a statement of intent, not legally binding; the 21.8% and 1,480 figures are relayed from the Reiwa-7 (2025) survey
F-012: Navit's "Joseikin Now," in the notice for a seminar whose streaming began 2026-07-02, said cases of national flagship subsidies carrying wage-raise conditions (raising total salary payments, raising minimum wages, refunding subsidies if targets are missed) are increasing, while some municipal subsidy programs carry no wage-raise conditions and can be used for equipment, DX and labor-saving investment - source: PRTIMES #1294826 - source_url: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000002209.000080271.html - confidence: medium - basis: official_statement - period: 2026-07-02 (seminar streaming start) - caveat: Promotional copy from a private seminar operator, naming no specific programs or statistics; cited only as policy-incentive backdrop
J-Units
J-001: In the same period (late June to early July 2026), Taiwan and Japan show a structural contrast around the "starting salary" -- Taiwan's central government, as the public-sector employer, uses a two-stage raise to push Senior Exam Level-3 entry pay near the NT$60,000 level, directly benchmarking the private market (the ROC year 114 university-graduate average starting salary of NT$36,000); Japan's moves come from individual private firms (Alconix JPY330,000, AZAPA) and a prefecture-brokered collective declaration (Yamanashi's 39 organizations). Different actors (government vs. private), same lever (the starting salary); different currencies, so no exchange-rate comparison - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation
J-002: Taiwan's design logic is "first enlarge the base with flat increases, then add the across-the-board 4%," with larger raises the more junior the rank (Elementary Exam 9.98% above Senior Exam Level 3's 7.8%, applying in 2027) -- and the government itself benchmarks the private university-graduate average starting salary of NT$36,000 (ROC year 114, 2025), showing public and private sectors bidding directly against each other in the entry-level talent market - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation
J-003: Both raises carry "unfinished tension": Taiwan's package depends on the Legislative Yuan's budget process (this year's budget has not passed; the supplementary budget awaits review), and the teachers' association demands an institutionalized review mechanism; Japan's push runs through individual corporate decisions and subsidy wage-raise conditions, and Yamanashi's youth-outflow data (a 21.8% U-turn employment rate, the lowest in the past 13 years) shows the wage pressure comes from demographic structure, not merely the business cycle - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation
P-Units
P-001: The Legislative Yuan's review of Taiwan's FY116 (2027) central government budget and this year's supplementary budget -- implementation of both stage one (the flat NT$2,000 increase) and stage two (the across-the-board 4%) depends on it; track the review outcome and actual effective dates ### P-002: Whether the raise improves public-sector recruitment -- application, admission and retention data are not in the sources; whether "recruiting via starting pay" works awaits official follow-up statistics ### P-003: Whether Japan's April-2027 starting-pay market keeps rising -- Alconix (JPY330,000) and AZAPA are individual company cases, not aggregate statistics; watch for macro data from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and others ### P-004: Whether the NTA's demanded institutionalized pay-review mechanism (with non-government participation) is established, and the follow-up debate on indexing retirement benefits to prices
同事件・三視角 / Three Perspectives on the Same Event / 同一イベント・三つの視点
Internal Citation Chain
Published ANK-Docs cited in this card: - ANK-2026-05-16-001 (Two faces of Taiwan's labor market under the AI supercycle: record graduate starting pay alongside 17.2% on minimum wage) -> cited here as the private-market counterpoint on starting pay and its divergence: based on Ministry of Labor new-hire salary statistics, that card records the ROC year 114 (2025) average starting salary for all graduates at NT$39,000 and NT$36,000 for university graduates (the same basis as the figure Chang Chiu-yuan cited here, and consistent with it), and that 17.2% of the same cohort earned only the minimum wage -- while this card records the other end: the public sector pushing entry pay toward NT$60,000 (Senior Exam Level 3, 2027) and entering the bidding directly. -> Card link
Sources
1. [CNA #1296889] CNA, "軍公教調薪拚攬才 116年高考三級初任人員起薪近6萬", 2026-07-02. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020155.aspx 2. [CNA #1296509] CNA, "軍公教通案調薪4% 主管調幅最多11.56%", 2026-07-02. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020110.aspx 3. [CNA #1294972] CNA, "116年軍公教擬調薪4% 專業加給等增2000元", 2026-07-02. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202607020030.aspx 4. [CNA #1299598] CNA, "軍公教通案調薪4% 全教會籲制度化審議機制", 2026-07-02. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/ahel/202607020223.aspx 5. [PRTIMES #1282039] Alconix Corporation, "アルコニックス、５年連続のベースアップを実施合わせて新卒初任給を33万円に引上げ", 2026-07-01. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000063.000036770.html 6. [PRTIMES #1279846] AZAPA Engineering, "2027年4月以降入社となる新卒初任給のベースアップを実施し、2027年度より基本給および月額給与の水準を引き上げることを決定しました。", 2026-07-01. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000009.000057736.html 7. [PRTIMES #1282505] "若者流出に歯止めを 山梨県、賃上げへ39団体で共同宣言", 2026-07-01. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000504.000078927.html 8. [PRTIMES #1294826] Navit Co., Ltd., "「【東日本編】賃上げ要件無し！おすすめ補助金紹介セミナー」の配信を開始します！【助成金なう】", 2026-07-02. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000002209.000080271.html 9. [ANK-2026-05-16-001] Rin Takenouchi, "Two faces of Taiwan's labor market under the AI supercycle -- record NT$39,000 average graduate starting pay, yet 17.2% still on minimum wage", 2026-06-28. https://ainews.washinmura.jp/ainews/en/ank/ANK-2026-05-16-001