Labor minister touts need to revamp employment policy at APEC

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Taiwan's minister of labor joined counterparts at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting on Monday in calling for reforms to employment systems in response to aging societies and emerging technologies.

Held under the theme "Sustainable Labour Markets and Jobs for the Future," the meeting took place in Jeju, South Korea, and marked the first of its kind in 11 years, with the last one held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2014.

In his remarks, Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said that the rise of artificial intelligence, digitalization, and automation is fundamentally changing the nature of work, causing atypical working schemes and part-time job platforms to quickly gain traction, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said in a press release.

While these flexible work models are widely popular, they also expose gaps in labor protections for those who adopt them, highlighting the important role of governments in ensuring that the rights of such workers are not overlooked in the name of convenience, Hung was quoted as saying.

At the APEC meeting, Hung identified Taiwan's aging society, low birth rate and gender stereotypes as posing challenges to the country's labor policies and increasing the importance of female, middle-aged, and senior workers, according to the MOL.

Hence, a major policy goal of the government is to build more friendly and accommodating working environments for those types of workers, the MOL quoted Hung as saying.

Hung also said that the APEC occasion served as a great opportunity for labor ministers worldwide to engage in exchanges as they seek to jointly meet the challenges of a tumultuous global labor market.

The event also allowed Taiwan to bring its labor and human resource policies closer in line with the international community, thus creating new opportunities, the MOL cited Hung as saying.