TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's labor minister revealed on Wednesday (Oct. 30) that the nation faces a significant shortage of mid-level skilled workers, and the Ministry of Labor (MOL, 勞動部) plans to train local personnel and open opportunities for overseas Chinese and foreign students to fill positions such as nursing assistants.
The MOL released its first labor shortage survey on Oct. 8 to better understand labor shortage issues. The report revealed that, as of July, around 66,000 job vacancies in Taiwan had remained unfilled for over six months. The service sector accounted for 36,000 of these vacancies, or 53.8%, while the industrial sector had 31,000, or 46.2%.
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊), speaking before the Legislative Yuan's "Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee" (社會福利及衛生環境委員會), emphasized the survey's precision by pointing out that Taiwan's greatest need lies in mid-level skilled workers, not entry-level laborers.
Ho noted that the ministry has relaxed regulations and quotas for overseas Chinese and foreign students recently. The government plans to open mid-level technical positions in the hospitality industry to these students and expand to roles such as hospital caregiving assistants, warehouse logistics, truck drivers, and urban bus drivers by the end of the year.
The survey, conducted through phone interviews with a sample of 4,000 businesses, focused on positions that had been vacant for six months, aiming for a more accurate definition of labor shortage.