The Ministry of Labor yesterday said it is proposing amendments to allow international students who graduated from Taiwanese universities to work as city and highway bus drivers, as well as in five other medium-level technical jobs.
The proposals would be open for public input at the end of the month, the ministry said.
International students, including those of Chinese and Taiwanese descent, could be an important source of labor to support the nation’s dwindling workforce. The National Development Council said that Taiwan could face a shortage of 400,000 workers by 2030.
Photo: Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
Last year, the labor ministry allowed international students to stay in Taiwan and work as housekeeping staff to address a labor shortage in the hotel and accommodation industry. However, no one applied as the Tourism Administration has yet to provide training.
The ministry said it would propose amendments to labor regulations to ease restrictions on the recruitment of international students in medium-level technical jobs, after the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of Economic Affairs identified jobs that need to be filled.
They include assistant caregivers in hospitals, storage and warehouse management personnel, cargo vehicle drivers, cargo driving assistants, and drivers and safety management system (SMS) personnel for highway and city bus services.
The proposed amendments would include salary thresholds and qualifications for the jobs. Salaries for drivers and SMS personnel for highway and city bus services must be at least NT$50,000 per month, while the wages for assistant caregivers, storage and warehouse personnel, cargo vehicle drivers and cargo driving assistants would start at NT$34,000, NT$39,000, NT$43,000 and NT$43,000 respectively.
The Ministry of Labor said that about 25,000 to 35,000 assistant caregivers are needed.
As of November last year, the nation needed 2,453 highway and city bus drivers, the Highway Bureau said, adding that it could recruit 613 international students to fill some of the roles.
Meanwhile, the nation needs about 200 SMS personnel, 30 of whom could be recruited from international students.
Under the proposals, 2,309 international students could be recruited to fill the 9,234 available cargo vehicle driver positions. The number of driving assistants needed as well as the number of international students that needed to be recruited are the same as the cargo vehicle drivers.
To qualify as cargo vehicle drivers, cargo driving assistants, bus drivers or SMS personnel for highway and city bus services, international students must have at least an associate’s degree or higher, the bureau said.
They must also pass Mandarin-language proficiency tests, undergo certain hours of language and technical training, and secure required certificates, it added.
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