過年不打烊：台灣科技業輪班背後，那些大家心裡都懂的小趣聞
- 前半段為文章的英文版本 (The first half is the English version)
- 後半段為中文版本 (The second half is the Mandarin version)
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Taiwan Tech Industry During Lunar New Year:
What Keeps the Factories Running While the Island Slows Down
As Lunar New Year approaches, Taiwan enters what should be its most complete pause of the year.
Families reunite. Offices close. Cities slow down.
Yet within the Taiwan tech industry during Lunar New Year, time does not fully stop.
Across semiconductor fabs, electronics manufacturing plants, and critical component production lines, many factories continue operating 24×7 throughout the holiday. Shifts remain scheduled. Engineers stay on call. Equipment stays online. Because in high-precision manufacturing, stopping production is rarely just a matter of “taking a few days off”—it often means weeks of recalibration, yield loss, and delivery risk.
Continuous Operations Are a Structural Reality
For much of the Taiwan tech industry during Lunar New Year, a full shutdown is simply not an option.
Even employees who are not officially assigned to holiday shifts are often required to remain on call, ready to respond to equipment alarms, process deviations, or unexpected disruptions. From a company’s perspective, this is not about pushing workers harder—it is about maintaining operational stability, protecting customer trust, and keeping global supply chains predictable.
From an employee’s perspective, it is a long-internalized reality:
the holiday exists, but production responsibility does not disappear.
Overtime Pay as a Clear and Explicit Trade-Off
This system is not built on silent sacrifice alone.
Most technology companies follow labor regulations and internal policies that provide significant compensation during the Lunar New Year period—double pay, overtime premiums, and additional allowances. For some engineers, working during the holiday can result in earnings close to, or even exceeding, a normal month’s salary.
As a result, Lunar New Year shifts in the Taiwan tech industry are generally understood as a transparent exchange rather than an implicit burden:
time and holidays traded for short-term, predictable financial return.
A Quiet Pattern Everyone in the Industry Knows
Within the Taiwan tech industry during Lunar New Year, there is also a small but widely understood pattern—one that rarely appears in official statements, yet plays out every year on factory floors.
Volunteer shift lists tend to fill more quickly with younger, single engineers. The reasons are straightforward: fewer family obligations, greater schedule flexibility, and the opportunity to accumulate savings efficiently.
Those planning to get married or buy a home are often even more willing to take holiday shifts, effectively converting festive time into down payments, wedding funds, or financial security.
In contrast, engineers with families and young children often make a different calculation. Even with double—or higher—pay on the table, Lunar New Year is frequently treated as irreplaceable time. For them, presence outweighs compensation.
Not About Commitment, but About Life Stages
This contrast is not a question of dedication or work ethic.
It reflects different life stages, different priorities, and different ways of valuing time, money, and family. At various points in life, people optimize for different outcomes—and the system quietly adapts around those choices.
The global reputation of the Taiwan tech industry during Lunar New Year—its reliability, resilience, and consistency—is built not only on advanced equipment and rigorous processes, but also on these human trade-offs.
Factories remain lit while the island celebrates.
And behind each light is not just a production line—but a person, making a rational choice shaped by where they are in life.
If you’re interested in deeper analysis on AI supply chains, and Taiwan’s evolving role in the global technology economy, I share regular insights in my LinkedIn Newsletter Taiwan Tech Dispatch.
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Further Reading
- Taiwan High-Tech Work Culture: When an Earthquake Means Overtime in Hsinchu’s Technology Ecosystem
- From Apple Dependence to the Rise of the Taiwan AI Supply Chain: How Taiwan Rebuilt Its Strategic Position in Global Technology
- Double pay dates 2026
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過年不打烊：台灣科技業輪班背後，那些大家心裡都懂的小趣聞
農曆年將近。
對多數台灣人而言，這是一年之中最重要、也最完整的一段休止符——返鄉、團聚、暫停工作節奏。
但在台灣的科技與電子產業裡，時間並不會真正停下來。
無論是半導體、電子製造，或關鍵零組件產線，許多工廠仍然維持 24×7 的連續運作。輪班照常、設備不停，因為一旦停機，代價往往不是「少放幾天假」，而是良率、交期，以及對全球客戶的信任成本。
輪班不是例外，而是產業常態
在多數科技廠中，農曆年並非全面放假。
即便沒有被正式排入輪班，工程師與關鍵人員往往仍需維持 on-call 狀態，隨時準備處理設備、製程或突發狀況。
對公司而言，這是確保產線穩定與供應鏈可信度的必要條件；
對員工而言，這則是一種早已內化的產業現實——節日存在，但生產責任不能缺席。
加倍薪資，是一種清楚的交換
當然，這樣的付出並非毫無補償。
多數科技與電子廠會依勞基法與公司制度，在農曆年期間提供加倍薪資、加班費，甚至額外津貼。對部分工程師而言，春節輪班的收入，確實可能接近甚至超過平時一個月的薪資水準。
這也讓農曆年值班成為一種清楚、透明、被理解的交換：
用節日與時間，換取短期且可預期的現金回報。
一個大家都知道、卻很少寫出來的小趣聞
在產業內，其實還流傳著一個大家心照不宣的小趣聞。
農曆年期間的輪班與值班，往往更容易看到單身、年輕的工程師主動報名。原因其實很單純——生活彈性高、牽掛相對少，而加倍薪資可以在短時間內存下一筆實際可用的錢。
尤其是正準備結婚、計畫買房的人，更有可能自願在過年期間上線，把節日直接轉換成現金與未來的安全感。
相對地，對已有家庭與小孩的員工而言，即使在兩倍、甚至更高的收入補償前提下，農曆年仍然更常被視為「不可替代的時間」。
對他們來說，這段陪伴家人的節奏，往往比任何加班倍數都來得珍貴。
不是責任感的差異，而是人生階段的選擇
這樣的現象，並不意味著誰比較有責任感，或誰比較願意付出。
它更像是一種人生階段的自然分工——
在不同時間點，人們對「錢、時間、家庭與未來」的權衡，本來就不一樣。
而台灣的科技產業，正是建立在這樣一層層現實、理性、卻少有人細說的取捨之上。
工廠在過年期間依然燈火通明；
而每一盞燈後面，都是某個人，某個階段的人生選擇。
如果你關心 AI 供應鏈、半導體與台灣在全球經濟中的角色轉變，
我會在 LinkedIn Newsletter《Taiwan Tech Dispatch》中，持續分享更深入的第一線觀察。
👉 歡迎訂閱，一起追蹤台灣以及高科技產業。
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