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.
VALUABLE STOCK: The company closed at NT$1,005 a share, on demand for AI and HPC chips, and is expected to issue a positive report during its earnings conference Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares rose 2.66 percent to close at a record high of NT$1,005 yesterday. as investors expect the company to continue benefiting from strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) chips. TSMC is the 19th member of the local bourse’s NT$1,000 stock club, which includes smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and electric transformer manufacturer Fortune Electric Co (華城電機). Yesterday’s rally swelled TSMC’s market capitalization to NT$26.06 trillion (US$802.3 billion) and contributed about 211 points to the TAIEX, which closed up 350.1 points, or 1.51 percent, to 23,522.53, another record high, Taiwan Stock
Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), a subsidiary of Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said it is again offering a NT$100,000 discount for its entry-level n7 electric vehicle models. The n7’s price has gone down from NT$1.099 million to NT$999,000, Luxgen said, adding that there are 25,000 preorders for the model. MG Motor’s electric hatchback, the MG4, entered the market in the middle of last month, with a starting price of NT$990,000. China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which distributes MG vehicles in Taiwan, said it aims to sell 1,600 MG4s this year. MG, originally a British brand, was acquired by China’s SAIC Motor
South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc, the world’s No. 2 memorychip maker, is to invest 103 trillion won (US$74.6 billion) through 2028 to strengthen its chips business, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), its parent SK Group said yesterday. SK Group also said it plans to secure 80 trillion won by 2026 to invest in AI and semiconductors as well as fund shareholder returns, while streamlining its more than 175 subsidiaries. The sprawling conglomerate outlined the plans following a two-day strategy meeting, aiming to revive the group after SK Hynix, its main money maker, and the group’s electric vehicle battery arm suffered heavy losses. SK
Google on Monday said it is planning to invest in New Green Power Co (NGP, 永鑫能源), a solar energy developer owned by BlackRock Inc, to build 1 gigawatt of solar capacity in Taiwan to supply clean energy for its local data center and offices. “Our investment in NGP, subject to regulatory approval, will serve as development capital toward its 1 GW pipeline of new solar projects, catalyzing critical equity and debt financing for those projects,” Google’s Data Center Energy global head Amanda Peterson Corio wrote on a company blog. It did not disclose financial details. “We expect to procure up to 300 megawatts