Mid-level workers most needed amid Taiwan's labor shortage: Minister

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) Mid-level workers represent the biggest gap in Taiwan's workforce, Labor Minister Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) said Wednesday, and she vowed to enhance local training programs and expand opportunities for foreign students to bridge the shortfall.

Speaking at a legislative committee meeting, Ho said the Ministry of Labor's (MOL) first labor shortage survey earlier this month found that out of 66,300 job vacancies in Taiwan as of July, 40,000 were for "skill level 2" occupations, representing mid-level workers.

As defined by the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO), skill level 2 typically requires the completion of a junior high school education and covers many occupations, including clerks, sales workers and machine operators.

In contrast, the skill level 1 category, which refers to elementary occupations such as cleaners and movers, had a shortage of only 5,000 workers, or 7 percent of the total, according to Ho.

In terms of breakdown by sector, she added, the service sector accounted for 35,800 of these vacancies, or 53.8 percent, while the industrial sector had 30,500, or 46.2 percent.

Beyond trying to build up the local workforce, the ministry plans to expand the range of mid-level positions to foreign students by the end of this year, and will include hospital caregiving assistants, warehouse and logistics workers, and bus and truck drivers, she said.

Ho acknowledged, however, that similar efforts to support the hotel industry earlier this year, which were part of a broader plan launched in May 2023 to address the post-pandemic labor shortage, have yielded limited results.

Since late August, foreign students graduating in Taiwan were eligible for mid-level jobs in housekeeping, cleaning, room booking, and reception departments if they held associate degrees or higher from Taiwan.

Ministry data showed, however, that out of the 7,758 individuals recommended to fill the 1,618 job vacancies in the hotel sector as of mid-October, only 963 were actually hired.

In response to criticism from lawmakers about the NT$1 billion (US$31.2 million) program, which was aimed at facilitating post-pandemic employment for 20,000 workers, Ho said employers simply wanted to hire cheaper workers for the open vacancies.

Ho argued that the plan created sufficient incentives, but companies still preferred overseas foreign workers because they cost less, she said.

"This is the dilemma I'm facing. But can we really go down that path?" she said.