《TAIPEI TIMES》 Nation lacks mid-level skilled workers

HELP WANTED: A Ministry of Labor poll showed that there were more than 66,000 job vacancies among the 4,018 companies surveyed, with about 36,000 in the service sector

By Lee Ching-hui and Lery Hiciano / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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The most acute labor shortage is among mid-level skilled workers, rather than manual laborers, the Ministry of Labor found in its first full-time labor shortage survey released yesterday.

Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan （何佩珊） presented the survey results to the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, saying the poll was part of the ministry’s efforts to establish its own data on national labor needs.

Previously, the ministry and other agencies asked businesses to gauge labor supply and demand, but the ministry wanted more specific data, Ho said.

The survey was conducted through telephone interviews, asking 4,018 companies “which positions have been vacant for at least six months and remain unfilled,” which gives the ministry a clearer understanding of the labor situation, she said.

The survey revealed 66,000 job vacancies, with 31,000 （46.2 percent） in the industrial sector and about 36,000 （53.8 percent） in the service sector, she said.

The main takeaway was that businesses most need mid-level skilled workers, with 40,000 vacancies （about 60 percent） reported, followed by 22,000 higher-level technical vacancies （about 33 percent） and 5,000 entry-level vacancies （about 7 percent）, she said.

Ho urged the government to increase domestic training opportunities, especially for younger workers, and promote cooperation between businesses and academia to further provide training opportunities.

The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Economic Affairs should work together to integrate learning and training, she said.

They should also seek to attract international professionals to join the workforce, including overseas Chinese, she added.

The Ministry of Labor would also gradually open up more opportunities to foreign students and laborers by the end of the year, she said.

Meanwhile, Ho was asked by a lawmaker about the ministry’s preparations for opening Taiwan to migrant workers from India, after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding （MOU） in February.

The MOU stipulates that Taipei would decide the number of migrant workers and types of industries they could work in, while New Delhi would handle recruitment and training, and that employment and border movements would be governed by the laws of both countries, the ministry said at the time.

Ho told the legislature that the ministry is preparing to hold the first bilateral working group meeting under the MOU next month, and has invited the Indian representatives to attend.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES