Thu, Nov 21, 2002 page10

• Pundits say Chen lacks jobs plan

  UNEMPLOYMENT Analysts say President Chen Shui-bian is long on words and short on action when it comes to addressing the needs of Taiwanese who are out of work

  • By Joyce Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) needs to put words into actions when it comes to reducing the nation's jobless rate, pundits said yesterday.

  On Monday, Chen called on the Cabinet to reduce the unemployment rate from September's 5.32 percent to 4.5 percent by the end of next year

  "[Chen's] policies to tackle unemployment were proposed months ago and haven't been fully carried out yet," said Rocky Yang (楊基寬), general manager of 104 Job Bank Corp (104人力銀行). "If the plan is fully implemented, the jobless problem should be slightly improved."

  Chen concluded a major economic meeting on Monday by announcing a 10-point plan to turn around the nation's flagging economy and rising unemployment. The measures include creating 70,000 part-time jobs in the public service, allocating NT$1.2 trillion each year for the next five years to domestic investment projects and lifting restrictions on foreign investment.

  Hardest hit by the slump have been the over-45 age group, which accounts for 17 percent of the nation's unemployed. Jobless aged 25 to 45 account for 53 percent, while those aged between 15 and 24 account for 30 percent, according to Yang.

  Yang, however, said he was concerned the president's plan to create 70,000 part-time jobs in the public sector for those over 35, saying "it's just a short-term fix and may fail to address the plight of the nation's unemployed.

  "It will distort the distribution of social resources, aiming only to fulfill political goals and create rosier unemployment numbers," Yang said.

  Instead, workers need to be retrained with advanced skills they can use for the long term, he said.

  For example, the government has abandoned the use of electronic parking meters in order to hire part-time workers. These workers may, however, ignore opportunities to advance their job skills, leaving them unprepared for better-paying opportunities in the knowledge-based economy, Yang said.

  The deteriorating quality of the labor force has resulted in a loss of national competitiveness and is a major reason behind Taiwan's high jobless rate, Yang added.

  Wu Hui-lin (吳惠林), an economist at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said the government should draft new legislation that will benefit both labor and employers, rather than just creating short-term jobs.

  Wu said that the legislature will be the biggest hurdle to Chen's plan, which includes raising the government's public debt ceiling to finance infrastructure spending and domestic investment projects.

  In terms of boosting infrastructure spending to stimulate the economy, Wu Chung-shu (吳中書), a researcher at Academia Sinica's Institute of Economics, yesterday said that Taiwan should learn from the experience of other nations.

  "The government should build an investment environment free of red tape to successfully improve the nation's labor-intensive economy," Wu said.

  He added that revising and clarifying the regulatory and legal system would help attain the government's goal of attracting foreign investors, but added that "the government needs a well-thought-out plan."

  Yang of 104 Job Bank said that offering incentives such as tax breaks may not be enough to attract foreign investors since other Asian countries are competing with Taiwan by providing better treatment as well as cheaper and higher-quality labor.
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