English-language schools are expected to see a shortage of foreign teachers this summer as many decide to leave or not to come because of SARS fears, industry professionals said yesterday.
"Over the last two months, an increasing number of foreign teachers said they don't plan to renew contracts and may leave earlier [due to the SARS outbreak]," said Jason Hou (
Established in 1982, Kojen has 20 branches nationwide employing more than 300 teachers from Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. But most of these teachers' one-year contracts will end in next month or in July.
"We are very likely to encounter a teacher shortage this summer," Hou said.
Summer is traditionally the high season for the English-learning sector as many students take time out to attend language classes.
But the industry may undergo some changes this year, Hou said, adding that starting in the middle of last month, Kojen's head office has received daily reports that at least one teacher has quit or taken leave without giving notice. The company has also had difficulty recruiting new teachers from abroad.
"The number of foreigners expressing an interest in coming to Taiwan to teach English in our center is down 80 percent from the same period last year," Hou said.
In an effort to lure foreigners, the company is considering offering incentives including free plane tickets, airport pickup services and free accommodation, he added.
Kojen's recruitment agencies in the US said many candidates are concerned about coming to Taiwan after the World Health Organization (WHO) advised against all but essential travel to Taiwan, he said.
Chris Jordan, a director at Kojen's Fuhsing South Road branch, said yesterday that none of their foreign teachers in that branch had left, but two American teachers have cancelled their plans to come to Taiwan because of SARS.
In addition, "some teachers have become very concerned and mentioned if the situation got much worse, they may consider going back to the US or Canada," Jordan said.
So far, the only individuals that have actually left the Fuhsing South Road branch due to SARS are several Canadian-born Chinese who quit after their parents demanded they come home, Jordan said.
Other English language centers say the impact has been limited so far.
"About 90 percent of the foreign teachers who are expected to renew contracts within the next two months have decided to stay on," said Jeff Lu (
However, the company is concerned that foreign recruitment may slow as online enquiries about the SARS outbreak in Taiwan surge, Lu said.
David Taiwan Inc (大衛美語), an English-language training center with 14 branches and some 100 foreign teachers around the country, is expecting a 10 percent drop in foreign instructors in the summer contract-renewal period, according to Joanne Tseng (曾 曉妍), a company official.
In the middle of this month, the company reported a 20-percent drop in student registrations compared to the previous month, Tseng said.
RECYCLE: Taiwan would aid manufacturers in refining rare earths from discarded appliances, which would fit the nation’s circular economy goals, minister Kung said Taiwan would work with the US and Japan on a proposed cooperation initiative in response to Beijing’s newly announced rare earth export curbs, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. China last week announced new restrictions requiring companies to obtain export licenses if their products contain more than 0.1 percent of Chinese-origin rare earths by value. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Wednesday responded by saying that Beijing was “unreliable” in its rare earths exports, adding that the US would “neither be commanded, nor controlled” by China, several media outlets reported. Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato yesterday also
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said it expects peak season effects in the fourth quarter to continue to boost demand for passenger flights and cargo services, after reporting its second-highest-ever September sales on Monday. The carrier said it posted NT$15.88 billion (US$517 million) in consolidated sales last month, trailing only September last year’s NT$16.01 billion. Last month, CAL generated NT$8.77 billion from its passenger flights and NT$5.37 billion from cargo services, it said. In the first nine months of this year, the carrier posted NT$154.93 billion in cumulative sales, up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest level for the January-September
‘DRAMATIC AND POSITIVE’: AI growth would be better than it previously forecast and would stay robust even if the Chinese market became inaccessible for customers, it said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday raised its full-year revenue growth outlook after posting record profit for last quarter, despite growing market concern about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. The company said it expects revenue to expand about 35 percent year-on-year, driven mainly by faster-than-expected demand for leading-edge chips for AI applications. The world’s biggest contract chipmaker in July projected that revenue this year would expand about 30 percent in US dollar terms. The company also slightly hiked its capital expenditure for this year to US$40 billion to US$42 billion, compared with US$38 billion to US$42 billion it set previously. “AI demand actually