The government is to recruit college-educated workers from abroad to meet a rising demand for labor, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said in an interview published yesterday.
The council’s projections show that 350,000 unfilled job openings are expected by 2028, while demographics indicate that the workforce would only grow by 150,000, Liu told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times).
That would result in a labor shortage of 200,000 workers for 80,000 blue-collar jobs and 120,000 high-skill jobs, he said, adding that the council’s overseas recruitment strategy is designed to tackle the latter.
Photo: Chang Chia-juei, Taipei Times
Starting next year, the council would launch three offices to recruit Taiwanese tech workers employed in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley and in Los Angeles, he said.
For many overseas Taiwanese, a job in Taiwan means greater opportunities for advancement and a chance to take care of their parents, Liu said.
The council is to help Tainan, Taitung County and Hualien County-based businesses recruit from the world’s 35 million digital nomads, who on average earn NT$2 million (US$62,547) a year, he said, adding that talks with local governments were ongoing.
A council analysis of LinkedIn user data showed that Bengaluru, India, has one of the world’s highest concentrations of tech workers engaged in artificial intelligence (AI)-related fields, making the city a priority, Liu said.
The council’s recruitment efforts there would start in November, he said.
Projects to import skilled workers from foreign countries are a partial solution to Taiwan’s labor shortage, he said, adding that productivity must be improved in industries from services to manufacturing.
Introducing AI and other digital technologies would be key to that process, he said.
All students should have access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, including those who do not specialize in a STEM field, to improve job prospects and encourage technology use in other sectors, he said.
Workforce retraining programs are being created to improve the digital skills of people who already have jobs, Liu added.
The government would tackle the nation’s long-term workforce shortage by increasing supply and reducing demand, he said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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