Taipei: The Cabinet’s recent policy to permit more migrant workers under specific conditions to tackle local labor shortages has faced backlash from labor groups, who have raised concerns about its effectiveness in addressing low wages and systemic issues affecting such workers.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Cabinet approved measures that allow manufacturers to hire additional migrant workers beyond their existing quotas, while also enabling the hospitality sector and ports to recruit them. This decision comes amid demographic challenges such as a low birth rate, an aging population, and a shortage of skilled labor.
To employ one additional migrant worker beyond the fixed quota, employers are required to increase a local employee’s monthly salary by NT$2,000 (US$61.38) and maintain these hires under 10 percent of their workforce, as stipulated by the Minister of Labor (MOL). Additionally, there is a plan to abolish the rule permitting employers to retain up to 25 percent of their migrant workers as “intermediate skilled foreign workers,” while maintaining the cap that limits foreign workers to no more than 50 percent of a company’s workforce.
Taiwan launched the “Long-term Retention of Skilled Foreign Workers Program” in 2022, allowing employers to reclassify migrant workers employed for over six years as “intermediate skilled foreign workers,” making them eligible for higher minimum salaries and a potential path to permanent residency.
Yang Shu-wei, Secretary-General of the Taiwan Labor Front, emphasized that the government should evaluate the root causes of labor shortages instead of merely loosening restrictions on hiring foreign workers. Yang questioned whether the industry’s purported labor shortage is genuine or if employers are simply seeking cheaper labor. He highlighted that migrant workers are typically paid the minimum wage of NT$28,590, excluding live-in caregivers not covered by the Labor Standards Act. Allowing more migrant hires while only raising local workers’ pay could widen wage disparities based on nationality.
Yang also pointed out that Taiwan’s migrant workforce has rapidly expanded since the COVID-19 pandemic, exceeding 850,000 by the end of September-an increase of 110,000 from two years ago-without annual recruitment limits as mandated by the Employment Service Act.
Grace Huang, Secretary-General of the Taoyuan-based Domestic Caretaker Union, stated that the Cabinet’s plan to remove the 25 percent cap on reclassifying migrant workers as “intermediate skilled foreign workers” would not substantially benefit them. Ministry of Labor data shows that only 4.15 percent of migrant workers in manufacturing and construction, and 14.88 percent in the nursing sector, have been reclassified as “intermediate skilled,” as employers are hesitant to pay higher wages when they can hire at lower pay.
Huang questioned the necessity of the policy if industries do not require a higher proportion of “intermediate skilled migrant workers.” The Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan criticized the reclassification policy as a “fraud in the name of improving labor conditions,” concealing persistent low wages and systemic constraints.
One key constraint is that migrant workers cannot freely change employers except under certain Ministry of Labor-approved conditions, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation. Huang suggested that the Cabinet’s approval of these measures might stem from industry pressure to hire more migrant workers.
To address this, the Executive Yuan has sanctioned the establishment of recruitment centers in workers’ home countries, aiming to bolster direct hiring through government-to-government agreements. Huang speculated that the policy might be a response to U.S. criticism over forced labor, referencing Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., whose Taiwan-made products were detained by U.S. customs due to forced labor issues, including excessive brokerage fees charged to migrant workers. She urged the government to define clear targets for the program instead of treating it as a symbolic announcement.