The Cabinet on Thursday pledged NT$1 billion (US$32.5 million) to fund a program to ease labor shortages in the tourism, hospitality, logistics and agricultural sectors.
The program aims to help recruit 20,000 workers over one year by giving payments to workers or providing subsidies to employers, Workforce Development Agency Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said.
Tsai said that the affected sectors face difficulty recruiting enough workers because of low salaries, distant workplaces or poor working environments.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Labor said it seeks to increase the labor participation rate of people aged 55 to 64, which is lower than in Japan and South Korea.
Tsai said the ministry would consult with industry associations to identify job opportunities and use its employment services to help match suitable workers with employers.
The Cabinet program includes monthly cash payments to workers younger than 45 of NT$6,000 each over one year if they find a full-time job through the program, Tsai said.
Workers aged 45 to 65 would receive NT$10,000 per month, he added.
The payments would be increased by NT$3,000 if their job is in a remote area, such as Hualien and Taitung counties, and outlying islands.
People aged 45 to 65 who take up a part-time job would receive NT$5,000 per month, plus NT$1,500 if the job is in a remote area, Tsai said.
The program also includes subsidies for companies that offer training to new recruits and upgrade certain equipment with the aim of improving their working environment, Tsai said.
Deputy Minister of Labor Chen Ming-jen (陳明仁) said the program’s goal to match 20,000 people with jobs does not represent the number of job vacancies in the service industries.
However, he did not answer questions about the seriousness of the labor shortage, saying only that the ministry is monitoring the situation.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS