First 600 unemployed to start work in new scheme

The first unemployed people to benefit from controversial job-creation measures passed in the legislature will be placed in jobs on Jan. 24, the Council of Labor Affairs said yesterday.

With the legislature and the Cabinet battling over how the NT$20 billion measure should be funded, the council will send the first 600 unemployed people who applied for jobs offered by the Cabinet's package to its local branches to assist other unemployed people in finding jobs.

Kuo Fang-yu (郭芳煜), director-general of the council's Employment and Vocational Training Administration, said yesterday that about 70,000 unemployed people had applied for jobs offered by the measures, with around 3,000 applying every day.

Kuo said that those who had been unemployed for more than a year, whose families were in financial difficulties, or who are from certain groups -- such as the disabled, Aborigines and victims of the 921 earthquake -- would be given priority treatment.

To ensure fairness in allocating jobs, the council set up a Web site to allow applicants to check on the progress of their applications.

According to figures released by the Cabinet, 75,000 jobs would be created by government departments.

The Council for Economic Planning and Development estimates that the 75,000 job opportunities would push the economic growth rate up to 3.52 percent for this year and lower the unemployment rate to less than 4.5 percent.