MOL survey shows migrant worker pay up, language barriers persist

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Monday released the results of a survey on migrant worker management in 2025, showing higher pay for both workers and caregivers, while the language barrier remained the top challenge facing employers.

Conducted in July and August last year, the annual survey collected 8,545 valid responses, including 4,523 businesses in the manufacturing, construction, agriculture and fisheries sectors that hire workers and 4,022 household employers of caregivers, the MOL said.

As in previous editions over the past decade, the survey focused on conditions in June, rather than the full year.

For migrant workers employed by Taiwanese businesses, regular monthly pay averaged NT$29,800 (US$941.67) in June 2025, with overtime pay averaging NT$5,100, bringing total pay to NT$34,900, up 4.7 percent from NT$33,300 in June 2024, according to the MOL survey report.

The ministry said the rise in regular monthly pay was driven by adjustments following Taiwan's minimum monthly wage hikes, which raised the floor to NT$28,590 on Jan. 1, 2025, and NT$29,500 from Jan. 1 this year.

Migrant workers employed by businesses are covered by the Labor Standards Act and are therefore entitled to at least the minimum wage, while caregivers hired by households are not covered by the act and are subject instead to a separate minimum monthly salary of NT$20,000.

The report showed caregivers' regular pay averaged NT$21,300 in June last year, with overtime pay averaging NT$2,800, for a combined total of around NT$24,200, up 1.8 percent from NT$23,800 a year earlier.

Difficulties & working hours

About 34 percent of both businesses and household employers said they had encountered difficulties when managing migrant workers, with the language barrier the most common issue for businesses at 23.2 percent and also the top issue for household employers at 24.5 percent, mirroring the results from the previous year.

The second most common issue differed between the two groups, with businesses most often citing low cooperation (12.6 percent), while household employers pointed to caregivers spending time on phones or chatting (10.1 percent).

In terms of working hours, migrant caregivers averaged 10.1 hours per day in June 2025, little changed from 10.3 hours in June 2024, the report showed.

For migrant workers employed by businesses, total working hours averaged 196.5 hours in June 2025, up nearly 10 percent from 179.1 hours a year earlier, as regular hours rose to 168.2 and overtime increased to 28.3 hours, the MOL said.

The ministry attributed the rise mainly to increased overtime at some manufacturers, driven by AI-related business opportunities.