Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor on Tuesday conditionally agreed to evaluate how the service industry can be opened up to hire foreign migrant workers. The General Chamber of Commerce Chair Paul Hsu led a meeting on Tuesday with Premier Cho Jung-tai and other Cabinet officials. The meeting focused on nine major topics including discussions about opening the service sector to migrant workers.
After the meeting, Hsu explained that business representatives were most concerned about labour shortages. Cho instructed the labour ministry to propose solutions for labour shortages after the Lunar New Year. Cho said employers must first raise wages for domestic workers to safeguard their interests. The ministry responded it would address labour shortages and opening the service sector to migrant workers after the Lunar New Year.
The ministry said that under Article 42 of the Employment Service Act, foreign workers can only be introduced if it does not negatively affect domestic employment or labour conditions, particularly wages. The ministry added this consideration is paramount during its policy evaluation process. The ministry said service sectors reporting labour shortages include transportation, warehousing, hospitality, and restaurants. However, it said labour shortages in some service industries that require technical skills or cultural and linguistic capabilities, cannot be addressed by hiring migrant workers. For example, the restaurant industry has increasingly adopted self-service kiosks and delivery robots while significantly raising employee wages. The labour ministry said the hospitality industry is currently the most vocal about seeking foreign workers.
The ministry warned of a potential spillover effect where opening one service sector to migrant workers could prompt similar demands from others. In response to the hospitality sector’s push for foreign workers, the ministry previously urged businesses to improve wage packages, in exchange for labor shortage subsidies to boost salaries in the sector. Despite this, businesses found the results limited, and the ministry subsequently allowed international students to work in hotels. Nonetheless, calls for opening the hospitality sector to migrant workers have persisted.
The ministry said that policy evaluations are underway but have not yet reached the commitment stage, and it will take a cautious stance. The nine major areas covered in the dialogue on Tuesday covered: financial and tax policies, net-zero emissions and environmental sustainability, human resources and labour relations, tourism, transportation, healthcare, industrial development, electricity pricing, and other general topics.
