MOL to let post-disaster recovery builders hire extra migrant workers

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Friday approved a plan allowing general construction firms engaged in post-disaster reconstruction projects to hire migrant workers beyond the sector's existing 15,000-person ceiling to boost recovery efforts.

"To speed up post-disaster reconstruction, [the ministry] approved allowing general construction firms involved in rebuilding projects to increase their quota for migrant workers" during a meeting on Friday, said Su Yu-kuo (蘇裕國), an official with the MOL's Workforce Development Agency (WDA).

To address labor shortages in construction, the MOL in 2023 created a 15,000-person quota for general construction firms to hire migrant workers. The quota is allocated by the National Land Management Agency, which said in 2024 that the ceiling had been reached through staged distribution.

Su said the approval, made at the meeting of the MOL's cross-border workforce policy advisory committee, removes the overall quota constraint only for companies undertaking eligible reconstruction or public-interest projects.

It means construction firms that meet the eligibility criteria -- such as those that have signed reconstruction contracts with disaster-affected residents -- can add migrant workers without counting toward the sector's 15,000-person ceiling, according to Su.

"Natural disasters are unpredictable and often cause severe post-disaster losses in a short time," Su said, noting that reconstruction must proceed quickly but requires "substantial manpower."

However, Su did not specify which disasters or regions would qualify for more migrant workers, or the time frame for which the planned new measure will apply.

In 2024 and 2025, Taiwan was hit by a series of natural disasters, most notably the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Hualien on April 3, 2024, and the bursting of a barrier lake on Sept. 23, 2025, which was triggered by heavy rain from Typhoon Ragasa and inundated Guangfu Township in the eastern county.

Both have prompted large-scale reconstruction efforts in the area.

Su noted that firms granted additional migrant worker quotas for reconstruction may keep them after rebuilding ends and reassign the workers to other ongoing projects, as part of efforts to "encourage firms to take on reconstruction projects."

As for when the planned measure will be implemented, Su said the ministry is awaiting an announcement from the National Land Management Agency.