For many middle-aged workers, the July 1 deadline for the implementation of the reformed pension system heralds a huge change. Even the government's pledge that it would ensure retirees' financial security seems to be insufficient to allay their fears.
The new system does represent an advancement of labor rights, which guarantees us a chance to eat the carrot that has long been hanging in front of us. Although an "elderly economy" still belongs to the future, it has triggered controversy in the present. Some media reported that companies are targeting both white and blue-collar workers above 40 for forced retirement. The optimum career age is now around 35, and anyone over 35 is regarded as starting to lag in productivity.
This is certainly a tragic scene at the end of one's career. At entry level, there is an overflow of university students, while most enterprises only consider applicants who hold at least a master's degree and keep lowering the starting wages. Tuition fees continue to rise rather than fall, since the government considers higher eduction to be a voluntary investment. Investments should produce returns, but the outlook for returns on higher education seems less than promising.
The amount of time spent on studies has increased along with the price of education, but incomes have fallen and the golden career window has shrunk. Facing up to an aging society with an extended life expectancy and a severe imbalance in manpower investment is the real story of Taiwan. Despite being granted a future carrot, it is still a promise of future relief. Who will help us live through the current confusion?
Hence we are rewriting human capital theory, based on factors such as the new retirement pension system, the industrial system and personal career planning, as well as the overall social environment. Today, although higher education no longer guarantees a great career in Taiwan, we can hardly give up our thirst for higher qualifications. As our straightforward career path has become twisted and hopeless, we can see that our educational system and reforms are in fact unable to deal with the massive changes in the workplace.
When the economy was more vibrant, nobody had to work too hard. Take Japan for example: During the economic bubble of the 1980s, many young Japanese chose part-time rather than full-time jobs, hoping to free their minds, and giving rise to the name "freeter." But according to a survey conducted by the Japanese government last year, about 70 percent of the so-called freeters aged between 15 and 34 actually hope to be able to work full-time again. Unfortunately, it would be difficult to restore the economic prosperity of the past.
In Japan's labor market today, one-third of the laborers work part-time or under temporary contracts. Japanese academics ascribe this to the gradually eroding social security system, combined with the youth's unwillingness to have children, which has compounded Japan's problems with an aging population.
On the eve of the implementation of the new pension system, Taiwan is obviously repeating Japan's mistake, as part-time, temporarily leased and contracted jobs will become the norm as enterprises cut back on labor costs. If we look closer, we can see the chain reaction such drastic career changes will set in motion, such as creating work instability. But no one is willing to take the necessary actions to remedy such social changes from an overall perspective.
Perhaps this problem will become more apparent in the next 10 or 20 years. Nevertheless, by following in Japan's footsteps, we may repeatedly miss the chance to remedy the situation.
Jeremy Lu is the chief editor of Mine Magazine.
TRANSLATED BY LIN YA-TI AND EDDY CHANG
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of