About 80 percent of local employers have difficulty finding workers in the summer and a considerable number are seeking to hire part-time workers at higher pay, a survey by Addcn Technology Co (數字科技) said yesterday.
Taiwan is in the midst of the first summer vacation after emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, but 80 percent of employers are suffering a lack of workers, the survey said, adding that the phenomenon is most evident at restaurants and hotels.
About 61 percent plan to address the issue by offering higher than legally required compensation, while 36 percent intend to temporarily make do by recruiting part-time workers, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
To that end, 33 percent plan to add 10 percent to the minimum hourly rate, it said.
Part-time pay is highest at NT$202 per hour in Taoyuan, followed by NT$193 in New Taipei City, NT$192 in Taipei, NT$191 in Tainan, NT$190 in Taichung and NT$189 in Kaohsiung, the survey found. Taoyuan has led the survey for three consecutive years.
Hospitality operators have called on policymakers to relax labor rules and allow the service sector to hire migrant workers, who are currently limited to construction projects, manufacturing and caregiving.
The government has advised companies to raise compensation and lower hiring hurdles to tackle the issue, which is due to a rapidly aging population.
The Ministry of Labor has introduced financial aid to encourage companies to hire people who are 65 or older. Companies that hire a worker aged 65 or older can obtain a NT$15,000 wage subsidy each month for a year.
The ministry’s labor recruitment office in southern Taiwan has helped more than 4,000 people aged 65 or older to rejoin the workforce in the past two years.
Taking advantage of healthy and able people aged 65 or older is a practical way to mitigate a shortage of labor, officials said.
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