MND to review bonuses to boost recruitment
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) would review and revise troop bonuses in a bid to improve recruitment and retention of military personnel, the Executive Yuan said.
Troop numbers are at their lowest since 2008, with many combat units only 80 percent staffed, governmental figures showed.
More than 7,000 people have left the military over the past two years due to being unfit for duty, the figures showed.
The situation has caused concern, said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜) in a recent written statement questioning the Executive Yuan.
Yang said that salaries for compulsory military service have been increased this year, but those for voluntary recruits have not, which harms morale in the military.
“Overall benefits for voluntary recruits are better if bonuses are included, but the salary gap between recruits and conscripts has narrowed, making it more difficult to recruit volunteers,” he said.
“We must seek to retain volunteer recruits if we hope to strengthen our defense,” he said.
Yang said he has asked the ministry to propose a plan to improve the retention of recruits by adjusting bonuses and other benefits.
The Executive Yuan said that any adjustment of volunteer service benefits would need to involve the balance of the military’s overall salary structure, as well as the use and allocation of the overall military budget.
Past adjustments have already resulted in regional increases in spending, and total spending on bonuses for volunteer recruits, active service awards and other benefits has reached NT$8.7 billion (US$268.41 million) annually, it said.
“However, the ministry is to look at the difficulty level of the work in different units and strengthen incentives for recruiting and retaining personnel in those units,” it said.
Currently, volunteer non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and one-year compulsory service conscripts can receive benefits, which range from NT$15,000 to NT$49,500 depending on what regional bonuses or service bonuses are added, it said.
Volunteer officers and soldiers might also receive performance appraisal bonuses and stipends for costs including water and electricity, medical care and other expenses, it said.
Separately, DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed an amendment to the Pay Act of the Armed Forces (軍人待遇條例) which would require that bonuses be increased whenever the cumulative growth rate of the consumer price index reaches 5 percent.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) and Chiu Chen-chun (邱鎮軍) have also proposed an amendment to the act that would create a new “combat bonus” for officers and soldiers serving in combat and combat support units.