The government is considering relaxing immigration rules for migrant workers and foreign students as part of efforts to address a labor shortage and issues linked to the nation’s low birthrate, Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) told a trade group yesterday.
Lin made the remarks while giving the keynote speech at a meeting in Taipei of the Third Wednesday Club (三三會), whose membership is limited to the top 100 firms in each business sector.
“We should embrace different views in dealing with foreign workers who currently serve as caregivers for ill senior citizens and work at construction sites,” Lin said.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
It is not fair or humane to dismiss caregivers after they have looked after people’s family members for the legal maximum of 12 years and have developed a close relationship with their employers, Lin said.
Perhaps they should be allowed to stay and be naturalized, the minister said.
Similarly, the government is considering whether male migrant workers who work on public and private construction projects should be allowed to stay in Taiwan for good, Lin said, adding that they are currently required to leave after their contracts expire in four to five years.
They usually have received years of training in Taiwan and are therefore welcomed by employers in South Korea and Japan, he said.
“We should revisit our immigration rules, rather than train workers on behalf of other nations,” Lin said.
The change is necessary as Taiwan is to become a super-aged society in 2025, when people aged 65 or older are to account for more than 20 percent of the population, he said.
Taiwan already became an aged society in 2018, with people aged 65 or older making up 14 percent of the population, and the birthrate has declined, Lin said.
The demographic structure is unfavorable for the workforce, causes other social security issues and it would require decades to rectify, the minister said, adding that labor shortages are affecting all levels of the workforce: unskilled, skilled and managerial employees.
Foreign students are another solution, and the government is considering allowing them to extend their stay, giving them two years, instead of 12 months, to find employment in Taiwan upon graduation, the minister said.
Toward that end, policymakers are also debating lowering the wage requirement from NT$42,500 a month, as most graduates in Taiwan have difficulty finding a job that pays that much, Lin said.
The government has offered assorted benefits to boost fertility rates, but to little avail, he added.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE: The group is proposing a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, and possibly a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Nissan Motor Co shares jumped after the Financial Times reported that a high-level Japanese group has drawn up plans to seek investment from Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc to aid the struggling automaker. The group believes the electric vehicle (EV) maker is interested in acquiring Nissan’s plants in the US, the newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify. The proposal envisions a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, but also includes the possibility of a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to prevent a full takeover by the Apple supplier, the report said. The group is
RSS