Most of the participants in a Ministry of Labor meeting on Thursday discussing the recruitment of Indian migrant workers to alleviate Taiwan’s labor shortage have agreed that the manufacturing sector should be the first industry to start recruiting.
Migrant worker groups, employer representatives, labor broker associations and experts from Taiwan and India attended the meeting to discuss industries suitable for recruitment, the number of migrant workers to be recruited and the recruitment methods for a small-scale trial.
In February, Taiwan and India signed a memorandum of understanding to bring in Indian migrant workers as Taiwan is facing a shortage of labor in areas such as manufacturing, construction and agriculture.
Photo: CNA
Su Yu-kuo (蘇裕國), head of the Workforce Development Agency’s Cross-Border Workforce Affairs Center, said that a consensus was reached for the manufacturing industry to be the first to recruit Indian workers.
Suggestions were also made to let Taiwanese businesses with factories or operation sites in India be the first in the manufacturing industry to recruit Indian workers, Su said.
Regarding the number of migrant workers to be recruited, most participants thought it would be better to decide this at a later stage, as it was more important to first identify the industries that would be recruiting, he said.
Migrant worker groups suggested using direct recruitment, without going through brokers, to reduce controversies and disputes, he added.
Brokers in Taiwan and migrants’ countries have been known to charge high fees, which put workers in debt for at least their first year of employment, he said.
At the same time, experts and employer groups advocated for a dual approach involving direct hiring and brokerage systems.
They proposed the careful selection of brokerage firms to avoid problems such as migrant workers being charged hefty job placement fees and monthly service fees.
Indian experts at the meeting suggested that there should be further discussions with the Indian government to work out details for direct recruitment, should it become the main way of bringing in Indian migrant workers, Su said.
Further meetings would be held to address additional issues related to the recruitment of Indian migrant workers, he said.
Following the discussions, opinions and suggestions would be conveyed to the Indian government, he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us