According to 104 Job Bank data in June, the number of job opportunities on the platform was more than 1 million — the highest ever. Meanwhile, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said that the average number of job openings was about 245,000 last year, showing that demand for workers has grown significantly.
Such a gap can be filled by university, senior-high and vocational-school students, unemployed and underemployed people, and even elderly and migrant workers. Hit by the serious decline in the birthrate, the number of college and university graduates dropped to 284,000 last year and it is expected to sink further this year.
Moreover, the number of senior-high and vocational-school graduates directly entering the workplace was 18,000 last year.
Although new graduates are a key source of workers, the number of graduates and even student interns in the workplace is insufficient to meet demand.
What is more worrying is that due to the serious shortage of workers, companies are offering incentives to university students in a fight for talent, as students who work part-time have become another source of labor.
A survey conducted last month by yes123 showed that 91.2 percent of university students plan to work part-time in the new semester, a new high for the past decade.
University students work part-time to cover living expenses, pay tuition fees or clear student loans.
However, a large number of students working part-time might lead to a difficult situation in talent cultivation for students and education providers.
Working students can generally be divided into “selective” learners who prioritize work and “active” learners who prioritize learning. Similarly, universities can adopt a selective or an active strategic mindset. The latter can be regarded as prioritizing high-quality learning and schoolwork. If schools and working students adopt an active approach, it would be a win-win situation for talent cultivation.
However, if they both adopt a selective approach, it would be a lose-lose situation.
Higher education in Taiwan is a buyer’s market, with too many universities and not enough students, while companies are offering incentives to attract students to enter the workplace.
This has pushed many working students to be selective learners who prioritize work over learning. Universities should therefore encourage students to work part-time rationally, and to do so during the summer and winter vacations or after classes so they can still prioritize learning.
In addition, universities should encourage them to look for part-time jobs that are related to their studies — which would help put theory into practice.
If a person’s work clashes with their study, they should think twice about using the prime learning time of their life to make temporary gains — unless there is no other choice.
Universities faced with the issue of students working part-time should adopt an active strategic mindset by letting students know the availability, usefulness and benefits of learning, so they can recognize the effects of study on their careers. Despite the unfavorable factors, such as the competition for enrollment among universities, the ease for students to transfer to other institutions, and high dropout and withdrawal rates, universities should never adopt a selective approach that would inevitably hurt their quality.
With a focus on active learning, they can reverse the talent cultivation issues caused by the prevalence of students working part-time.
Liu Ming-te is dean of China University of Technology’s College of Management.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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