Employers have been facing a serious talent shortage during the post-COVID-19 period, with the manufacturing and service industries calling for an urgent government response and demanding that they be allowed to hire more foreign workers. The Cabinet has set a goal of attracting up to 400,000 foreign workers by 2030 to address the labor shortage, while the Ministry of Labor is easing rules for hiring migrant workers in manufacturing, construction, agriculture and long-term care, with an estimated 28,000 people likely to be admitted under the new policy.
Companies in the industrial and service sectors reported about 216,000 job vacancies in the first half of this year, a Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) survey showed. Most serious was the shortage of 84,000 mid-level technical workers, which includes technicians and associate professionals, craft and trade workers, as well as plant and machine operators. They accounted for about 39 percent of the vacancies, followed by openings for 51,000 professional personnel, and 41,000 service and sales staff.
The shortage of mid-level technical workers has persisted for a long time, but the number of job openings for service, shop and sales personnel reached the highest level in five years at about 19 percent of total vacancies. The DGBAS attributed the rise to people resuming consumption activity after the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting demand for service staff.
Nevertheless, it is the chronic shortage of mid-level technical workers that poses a critical problem to the nation’s long-term development, socially and economically. These skilled workers are vital to technology industries such as semiconductors and non-technology industries such as machinery making, the National Development Council says.
While the nation’s low birthrate is a major factor in the overall drop in the working population, the persistent decline in the number of vocational students in the past few years has contributed to the shortage of mid-level technical workers. The problem did not appear overnight. It reflects a long-term situation in which society values academic credentials over practical skills, while students prefer to attend universities and colleges rather than vocational schools.
The government has in the past few years implemented measures to retain skilled foreign workers after they complete their contracts. The continued retention and employment of experienced foreign workers can greatly reduce the time and cost of cultivating new workers. It can also prevent such workers from being poached by other countries and territories facing shrinking labor pools, such as China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.
The “Long-term Retention of Skilled Foreign Workers Program” launched by the Ministry of Labor last year is aimed at allowing employers to retain foreign workers who have worked in Taiwan for at least six years. The program also provides opportunities for foreign workers to change their immigration status to “intermediate-skilled personnel,” which sets no limit on their work duration, while allowing them to apply for permanent residency after working for five years.
Demand for mid-level technical workers from local industries remains high, and the government must streamline the application process for employers to retain eligible workers. At the same time, it should promote vocational education and improve vocational schools, make vocational licenses and certifications more valuable, and promote the value of professional skills in society.
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump’s second administration has gotten off to a fast start with a blizzard of initiatives focused on domestic commitments made during his campaign. His tariff-based approach to re-ordering global trade in a manner more favorable to the United States appears to be in its infancy, but the significant scale and scope are undeniable. That said, while China looms largest on the list of national security challenges, to date we have heard little from the administration, bar the 10 percent tariffs directed at China, on specific priorities vis-a-vis China. The Congressional hearings for President Trump’s cabinet have, so far,
The US Department of State has removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” in its updated Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, which instead iterates that “we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.” This shows a tougher stance rejecting China’s false claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Since switching formal diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the US government has continually indicated that it “does not support Taiwan independence.” The phrase was removed in 2022
US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have each given their thoughts on Russia’s war with Ukraine. There are a few proponents of US skepticism in Taiwan taking advantage of developments to write articles claiming that the US would arbitrarily abandon Ukraine. The reality is that when one understands Trump’s negotiating habits, one sees that he brings up all variables of a situation prior to discussion, using broad negotiations to take charge. As for his ultimate goals and the aces up his sleeve, he wants to keep things vague for
RSS