The Ministry of the Interior has approved applications from construction firms to hire more than 9,000 migrant workers to help address labor shortages, the National Land Management Agency said on Monday.
After reviewing applications received from Aug. 1, the ministry approved 570 requests to hire 9,048 migrant workers for the construction industry in the first phase of the review process, the agency said in a statement.
The Ministry of Labor in June said it would allow for the employment of up to 15,000 migrant workers for construction.
Photo: CNA
Originally, the Ministry of the Interior intended to allow 8,000 migrant workers in the first round, but due to high demand, raised the limit, the agency said.
The next phase would allow for fewer than 6,000 migrant workers to meet the 15,000 limit, it said.
To be eligible to hire migrant workers under the policy, integrated, dedicated and civil engineering construction firms must have a track record of undertaking projects valued at least 10 times their paid-in capital annually in the previous three years, it said.
Due to strong demand from the local construction industry, an approved “grade A” integrated construction firm applicant with paid-in capital of NT$22.5 million (US$698,150) or higher, is permitted to hire up to 90 percent of the number of workers requested in its application, as large companies have alternative channels to recruit migrant workers, the agency said.
Such large integrated construction firms are also able to apply to recruit migrant workers on a case-by-case basis, as long as they are for public work projects valued at NT$100 million or higher and if the construction would last for 18 months or longer, it added.
Approved smaller construction firms, which have no alternative channel to hire migrant workers, are allowed to hire as many migrant workers as requested in their applications, it said.
Previously, the government had restricted the employment of migrant construction workers to projects valued at no less than NT$100 million or urban renewal projects of at least NT$200 million.
Integrated and dedicated construction firms must hire a minimum of 10 local workers, while civil engineering contractors must employ at least five local workers to qualify under the new policy, the labor ministry said.
Additionally, the proportion of migrant workers in their workforce is capped at 30 percent, with an option to increase it to 40 percent by paying an additional employment security fee to protect local workers, it said.
The interior ministry said it would continue to track laborers in the construction industry and regularly review its migrant worker hiring policy, with the goal of advancing the industry’s development and sustainability.
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