The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statist-ics (DGBAS, 主計處) recently said that the domestic unemployment rate jumped to 3.73 percent last month -- a new high for Feb-
ruary and the highest rate for a single month since September 1985. The number of people affected by unemployment has risen to 937,000. How can one possibly not worry about the unemployment problem?
If we let the problem worsen, it will develop into a social and political problem that is more difficult to deal with. Improving the local investment environment and boosting national competitiveness are the fundamental ways to prevent the jobless rate from climbing and to restore economic growth. Some crucial approaches include improving the government's administrative efficiency and coordination among government agencies, studying and revising labor policies and regulations, speeding up the construction of public infrastructure, and establishing harmonious cross-strait relations.
Regarding the first problem, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) recently criticized administrative lapses, highlighting the seriousness of the problem. An inefficient government has become an obstacle to industrial competitiveness. We may as well forget about helping corporations boost their capacity to promote employment.
As far as studying and revising labor policies and regulations is concerned, the government should, for example, turn the labor pension fund into a personal savings fund. More job training programs should be organized to help ease the predicament facing middle-aged and older laborers changing careers. Some industrial leaders believe that the 42-hour workweek policy is the main cause of the rising unemployment rate and massive corporate layoffs aimed at cutting labor costs.
I think that it would be better for the government to request industries to increase labor productivity than to ask them to give employees generous benefits. For example, the government should demand that corporations provide workers with minimum hours of vocational training each year. In this way, both domestic competitive power and employees' skills can be improved. Today many unemployed workers in traditional industries cannot meet the working requirements of the electronic age, such as computer skills and basic English. No wonder they face difficulties when they change jobs.
In regard to the construction of public infrastructure, it should be noted that infrastructure is an immovable factor of production, and can enormously influence business costs and competitiveness. The International Institute for Management Development and the World Economic Forum regard infrastructure as a key factor when assessing a country's competitive capacity. Speeding up the construction of infrastructure can cut business costs, boost investment and create more job opportunities.
And finally, economists are all aware that China will be both one of the most important markets in the world and indispensable to Taiwan's economic development. Whether Taiwan can turn the savage shark of politics into a tame whale of economics and share China's rich resources will be the key to making Taiwan's economic prosperity last. Our leaders must therefore be very cautious when handling political and economic exchanges with China. Speeding up the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists and the implementation of the "big three links" (大三通) are the main issues on which we should work.
I hope the government can take this wave of unemployment seriously and respond with practical moves. Let's not let it snowball and become another Pachang Creek
Lee Jen-sin is an associate professor in the department of finance at I-shou University.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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