About 1,000 migrant workers took to Taipei’s streets on Dec. 7 to protest Taiwan’s work-year limits, which require blue-collar migrant workers to leave Taiwan after working for a cumulative total of 12 years.
Demonstrators carried oversized lanterns made to look like time bombs — a visual representation of the inevitable uprooting they would eventually face.
Given Taiwan’s aging population, record-low birthrate and shrinking domestic workforce, migrant workers have emerged as the nation’s primary solution to its glaring labor shortage.
An overwhelming majority of migrant workers are employed in blue-collar roles such as construction, manufacturing and caregiving — precisely those subject to rigid work-year limits that force workers to leave regardless of their experience, skill or social ties built over more than a decade.
The government in 2022 introduced the Long-term Retention of Skilled Foreign Workers Program, which allows certain blue-collar workers to remain in Taiwan if they qualify as “intermediate skilled workers.” In theory, the program offers a pathway out of the 12-year cap. In practice, it offers little more than false hope.
Eligibility hinges almost entirely on employer cooperation, as applications for intermediate-skilled status must be filed by employers with the Ministry of Labor.
The program’s financial threshold alone renders it largely unattainable, as it requires that migrant workers earn at least twice the minimum wage to qualify for permanent residency. Starting next year, that would amount to NT$59,000 per month.
Official data show that average monthly earnings for migrant workers in construction and industry last year were only marginally above the minimum wage, at about NT$33,000. Domestic workers earned even less, averaging NT$24,000.
This imbalance creates perverse incentives. Workers might feel compelled to endure excessive hours, low pay or unfair treatment for years, knowing that speaking out could jeopardize their chances of employer endorsement.
For many, exploitation is compounded by heavy dependence on labor brokers, who often control nearly every aspect of their lives — from job placement to housing and even meals.
Reports have also highlighted unreasonable workplace conditions. Some factory workers have described being punished for minor errors, pressured to meet unrealistic productivity targets or required to work during typhoons while local employees are allowed to stay home.
Even after years of compliance, there is no guarantee that an employer would agree to elevate a worker’s status. After all, there are few incentives to do so when they can simply replace experienced workers with new hires more willing to accept lower wages and tolerate harsh conditions.
This results in a revolving-door system that prioritizes cheap labor over worker retention. Ministry of Labor data show that only about 4.7 percent of Taiwan’s migrant workforce have qualified as intermediate skilled workers since the program’s launch.
Instead of addressing these structural flaws, the government has proposed measures that risk entrenching inequality. Beginning next year, the Migrant Workforce Enhancement Plan would allow certain employers to hire an additional migrant worker if they raise the salary of a local employee.
This approach misdiagnoses the problem. It does nothing to improve overall wage standards or working conditions, and risks pitting local workers against one another while migrant workers continue to earn much less for the same labor.
Migrant workers should not be treated as disposable — cogs to be cycled out once they “expire.” This erodes human dignity, undermines workforce stability and exacerbates the labor shortage it claims to address.
Abolishing work-year limits is a necessary first step. Migrant workers should be welcome to stay as long as they so choose to work here, not forced out by arbitrary timelines that ignore experience and contribution, but reform must go further. Working conditions must be improved, wages raised and legal protections strengthened to ensure migrant workers are not locked into exploitative arrangements.
The government should accelerate efforts to establish a genuine government-to-government direct hiring system and dismantle the broker model that has enabled such abuse for far too long.
Migrant workers have already become an inseparable part of Taiwan’s social and economic fabric. The question is whether they would continue to be exploited and marginalized, or finally allowed to plant their roots and build dignified, stable lives.
Migrant workers are part of Taiwan’s future — or more accurately, Taiwan’s future depends on them. It is about time policies reflect that reality.
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