August 22, 2005
The number of foreign laborers approved for employment in Taiwan stood at just over 361,000 at the end of June, the highest level in recent years. This figure could rise even higher as the Council of Labor Affairs, faced with labor shortages in certain sectors, such as the nation's steel industry, is in the process of evaluating whether to raise the legal limits on the number of foreign laborers in Taiwan.
The CLA officially announced in early May that, due to labor shortages, public construction projects with a value of at least
NTD 10 billion and that will proceed for over one and a half years will be permitted to hire foreign laborers for a maximum of 20% of their workforce. This standard alone would mean an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 foreign laborers.
By permitting the hiring of foreign laborers the government aims to keep manufacturing enterprises in Taiwan.
The number of foreign laborers currently employed in Taiwan stands at 300,716, according to CLA statistics. Over 150,000 foreign laborers are employed in the manufacturing sector, 124,000 are caretakers, over 12,000 work in the construction sector, and over 2,200 are household maids.
(United Daily News)
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