The two-day Taiwan-EU Labor Consultation, which concluded on Friday in Belgium, was focused on Taiwan’s approach to its labor shortage and its employment of migrant workers, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said.
The consultation was different from previous years, when Taiwanese representatives were more engaged in learning from their European counterparts about labor protection, Hsu said in an interview after the meeting.
However, at this year’s meeting, the EU representatives were very intrigued with Taiwan’s policy of pushing for the employment of older workers to address its labor shortage, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Labor
The EU delegates were also interested in Taiwan’s hiring of migrant caregivers to meet rising demand for long-term care of elderly people amid an aging society, she added.
The Taiwan-EU Labor Consultation, launched in 2018, was held in-person this year, with Hsu leading the Taiwanese delegation, after two years of virtual meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EU delegation was led by Joost Korte, head of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, the Ministry of Labor said, adding that private European groups were invited to the consultation for the first time.
Korte “focused all of his attention on listening to us and taking notes when we were sharing information about our policies in the meeting,” Hsu said. “They are learning from us,” as Europe is facing a labor shortage in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Commission last year put forth an EU Care Strategy to tackle the demand for long-term care of the elderly, and the EU representatives were eager to gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s migrant worker policy, which seeks to address long-term care issues, Hsu said.
Hsu said she told the EU attendees about Taiwan’s initiative of encouraging enterprises to hire more middle-aged and elderly workers to boost the workforce, in light of the labor shortage.
Under Taiwan’s Middle-aged and Elderly Employment Promotion Act (中高齡者及高齡者就業促進法), the term “senior and middle-aged persons” refers to people aged 45 to 65, while the “elderly” means those older than 65.
While many European countries tend to offer tax cuts as a way of addressing the labor shortage, Taiwan provides subsidies to employers who hire middle-aged and elderly workers, Hsu said.
The subsidies are also extended for the employment of women seeking to return to work after leaving the job market for an extended period, she said.
Taiwan does not favor tax cuts, as it already has relatively low tax rates, she said.
The hotel housekeeper employment subsidy policy, which was introduced in May by the labor ministry and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, will be in force for one year, Hsu said.
If the domestic economy recovers next year, the policy might be terminated, but the tourism industry is unlikely to be affected, she said, adding that employers would lean toward retaining workers in an improving economy.
Hsu said the employment rate in the 55-to-64 age group in Taiwan is below 50 percent, which is low on an international scale.
In terms of long-term care, the labor ministry on Jan. 1 launched a Migrant Workers One-Stop Service Center — the first in Asia — which provides free three-day training for migrant workers before they start work, she said.
Through such training, migrant caregivers can learn more about their rights and benefits in Taiwan, and gain a better understanding of the country’s working environment, she said.
The EU does not have a comprehensive policy on migrant long-term caregivers, and it wants to learn from Taiwan in that area, Hsu said.
Taiwan is seeking to retain its experienced migrant industrial workers and caregivers, as other countries would be eyeing them after they have been trained in Taiwan, she said.
As of the end of May, there were 737,093 migrant workers in Taiwan, 225,301 of whom were domestic and institutional caregivers, up from 223,785 at the end of April, the labor ministry said.
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