The Cabinet is mulling another phase of a short-term relief program to tackle unemployment, before the existing one expires at the end of the year, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday.
With the program coming to an end, Wu instructed the Council of Labor Affairs during a Cabinet meeting to study the feasibility of a similar program, which he estimated could create more than 20,000 temporary jobs and prevent another wave of unemployment.
The relief program was implemented in January this year for less privileged, middle-aged, laid off workers and the long-term unemployed.
The government subsidizes employers that hire people in those groups to the tune of NT$17,280 (US$570) a month for the first three months of their employment and NT$10,000 per month thereafter.
The council issued a press statement after the Cabinet meeting saying the new program, if implemented, would cover similar groups of unemployed people, as well as victims of Typhoon Morakot, which hit the south of the nation in August 2009.
The initiative would seek to create about 19,250 short-term job opportunities and it would have a total budget of NT$1.6 billion, the council said.
At the same Cabinet meeting, Wu said the council’s updates on the unpaid leave situation were slower to appear than those from labor groups because the council “seeks to give accurate figures.”
The premier also asked the council to improve its reporting mechanism.
His defense came amid doubts about the actual number of furloughed workers, since the number calculated by labor unions is greater than the number published by the council.
Wu also asked the council to make a greater effort to publicize a program that provides training subsidies for furloughed employees whose working hours are cut by 16 hours or more over a two-week period.
The training program was announced on Oct. 24 with effect until March 31 next year. It provides subsidies of up to NT$10,000 a month.
Aside from the training programs offered by vocational training centers, businesses that set up training classes for their employees are also eligible for government subsidies of up to NT$1.9 million.
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