The number of foreign migrant workers has surged to a new high, even in the midst of a new wave of furloughs and layoffs in the local high-tech sector.
According to newly released statistics by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA), not only did the total number of foreign laborers hit a record last month, the numbers in both the manufacturing and welfare service sectors also reached new highs.
As of the end of last month, more than 420,000 foreign migrants had taken on jobs in Taiwan, with 224,000 working in the manufacturing industry and the remainder in household and caregiver positions.
On the other hand, the number of employed Taiwanese has been declining steadily in recent months, according to survey results released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).
The council said the number of foreign blue-collar workers exceeded 400,000 in July and kept on rising to 420,931 as of the end of last month.
Among them, 196,755 were working as caregivers or housekeepers, according to council statistics.
With Taiwan’s aging population, the number of caregivers and family helpers has been rising steadily.
In contrast, the number of foreign blue-collar workers in the manufacturing sector has experienced ups and downs. Because of tightened government control and the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, the number of migrant workers in the manufacturing industry dropped to a low of slightly more than 170,000 at one point.
As the domestic economy regained momentum in the second half of 2009, the number of migrant workers in manufacturing rebounded quickly, with the figure increasing from 194,000 early this year to 224,000 at the end of last month, surpassing the previous record of 223,378 recorded in September 1999.
The council’s statistics show that even though some high-tech companies have sent local employees on unpaid leave in the past few months, they are still employing many migrant workers.
By industry, the increase in the number of migrant workers has been most evident in the metal products sector, which employed 37,840 migrant workers as of the end of last month.
The numbers in the computer, electronics and optoelectronics industries have also increased steadily by between scores and hundreds per month.
In the electronics sector, however, the number of migrant workers has been falling continuously since August.
Meanwhile, the number of citizens employed by private companies slid from 7.366 million in August to 7.342 million in September, according to the DGBAS’ tallies. Numbers for last month are not yet available, but industry sources said they are expected to show a further decline from September.
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