Workers on reduced hours in nine industries would be eligible to receive up to NT$12,100 per month under an expanded employment subsidy, the Ministry of Labor announced yesterday.
The policy is to be effective retroactively from Aug. 1.
Changes in the global economy, such as US tariffs and fluctuations in the exchange rate of the New Taiwan dollar, are projected to effect up to 42,000 employees nationwide, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
It in March launched employment stabilization measures for workers in rubber products, machinery and equipment, and other transportation or parts manufacturing industries, Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
After a comprehensive assessment — which considered trade unions’ suggestions, the number of reduced work shifts, exchange rates and an evaluation of the new US tariffs’ impact on industries — the ministry expanded the measures to workers in food production, textiles, plastic production, metal manufacturing, electrical equipment manufacturing and auto parts production, Hung said.
The ministry held talks with several major trade unions, which expressed concerns that their workers would be negatively affected by Washington’s 20 percent tariff announced on July 31, he said.
Taiwan’s traditional industries are mainly made up of small or medium-sized enterprises, which might be hit harder than large businesses, he added.
The ministry also raised the subsidy rate for lost wages from 50 to 70 percent at a maximum of NT$12,100 per month, which can be combined with financial support from the ministry’s “Recharge Program for Workers” that provides skills training for employees who are furloughed or whose hours have been reduced, Hung said.
For example, a worker whose hours were cut and whose monthly wage fell from NT$45,800 to the minimum wage of NT$28,590 could avoid losing their total income through a combination of the labor subsidies, the ministry said.
Alongside the possible NT$12,100 from the expanded subsidy, the employee could obtain the remaining NT$5,110 to cover their wage reduction if they participate in the recharge skills training program, it said.
Employment insurance data showed that the nine covered industries have a combined 1.05 million insured workers.
Not every worker would face reduced hours and not all companies export goods to the US, Hung said, adding that only 2,761 workers currently have reduced hours.
To be eligible for the program, employees in the designated industries must have agreed with their employers to reduce working hours for at least 30 days and registered with local labor authorities.
Employees must apply within 90 days of a 30-day period of reduced hours, either online or through a local Workforce Development Agency office.
Accepted applicants can claim subsidies for up to six months.
Additional reporting by Lee Ching-hui
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS