Sat, Feb 27, 2021 page3

• FEATURE: Older workers in high demand at local firms

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  Taiwanese firms are increasingly aiming to recruit middle-aged and older workers, as the nation’s population ages rapidly due to a falling birthrate.

  Last year, Taiwan’s population shrank for the first time, with Ministry of the Interior data published last month showing 173,156 deaths and 165,249 births.

  The population dropped 0.18 percent to 23,561,236, after peaking at 23,773,876 in 2019, the data showed.

  While deaths were down 1.78 percent from 2019, births were at a record low, down 7.04 percent from 2019, it showed.

  This continued a trend over the previous few years.

  There were 8.409 births per 1,000 people last year, in 2019 there were 8.417 births and in 2018 there were 8.425, the data showed. Last year, the average number of children born to a Taiwanese woman during her lifetime was 1.05, the second-lowest in the world after South Korea’s 0.92.

  World Bank data showed that the global average is 2.4 per woman, and experts estimate that an average of 2.1 children per woman are needed to maintain a stable population.

  While the nation’s workforce has been declining for years, last year’s data set of alarm bells at government agencies and in the private sector.

  In response, the government has increased its focus on the employment of middle-aged workers, defined as those aged 45 to 64, and senior workers, aged 65 and older.

  In September last year, about 4.8 million people in Taiwan were 65 years or older, an increase of 910,000, or 23.3 percent, from a decade ago, data published by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed.

  Over the January-to-August period last year, the labor participation rate was 63.9 percent for middle-aged and senior workers, 76.4 percent for men and 52.1 percent for women, DGBAS data showed.

  To reach the government’s goal of 65 percent participation, 70,000 middle-aged and older people would have to join the job market.

  The 45-to-49 age group has a labor participation rate of 84.7 percent, similar to the US, South Korea and Japan, but the numbers for those older than 49 is significantly lower than in those countries, the data showed.

  However, many local firms have recognized the merits of middle-aged and senior workers, and increasingly target them in their recruit drives.

  Tou Jung-yao (豆榮耀) is the owner of Taipei-based Wonderful Seasons International Trading Co, a contractor of Taipei Rapid Transit Corp.

  His firm dispatches personnel to help disabled passengers at the capital’s MRT metropolitan railway system.

  Previously, Tou mostly hired younger people, as the job requires physical strength, he said.

  However, he observed that younger employees were often emotional and impatient with passengers, and he frequently received complaints about their service, Tou said.

  The problem was solved when he employed more older workers, who proved to be more skilled, sympathetic and willing to serve the needs of passengers, he said.

  Seasons International employs about 10 workers, all middle-aged or seniors, Tou said.

  Yonsoon Technology Corp human resources director Chang Jung-li (張榮利) said that he is also increasingly focused on recruiting older workers.

  “We know how hard it is to hire young workers amid a severe labor shortage,” he said.

  Fifteen percent of more than 100 employees at Yonsoon, a packaging service provider in Chiayi County, are middle-aged or older workers.

  That is much higher than the 2 to 3 percent on average employed in the nation’s private-sector companies.

  Echoing Tou, Chang said that older workers are more experienced, pragmatic and stable than their younger peers.

  To retain middle-aged and senior workers, Yonsoon analyzed what is most important for them: An internal survey showed that older workers mostly seek financial security, as their families often depend on their income, Chang said.

  The company aims to assign tasks to older workers that best fit their mental and physical qualities, he said.

  To address the looming labor shortage, the government in December last year promulgated the Act to Promote the Employment of Middle-aged and Senior Workers (中高齡及高齡者就業促進法), aiming to improve the situation on the job market for workers older than 45.

  Key provisions of the legislation are a ban on age discrimination against older job applicants or employees, and incentives for companies to hire them.

  The act stipulates that employers can use fixed-term contracts for workers aged 65 or older.
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