The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Saturday encouraged women to consider part-time work after releasing data showing that only 3.2 percent of women were employed in such jobs in 2021.
Part-time jobs have been unfairly stigmatized in Taiwan as an inferior form of employment and as something Taiwanese “settle for” due to a lack of options, Department of Statistics head Jasmine Mei (梅家瑗) said.
As a result, female participation in the Taiwanese labor market trails Japan, where 25.6 percent of women have part-time jobs, and South Korea, where 16.1 percent of women have part-time employment, Mei said.
Ministry data published on Wednesday, International Women’s Day, showed that the nation’s female labor participation was 51.5 percent in 2021, while Japan’s and South Korea’s both stood at 53.5 percent.
Although female labor participation in all three countries peaks among women aged 25 to 29, Japanese and South Korean women who leave the labor market in their 20s and 30s are more likely to return to the work force in their 40s, Mei said.
Moreover, women returning to work after having children in Japan and South Korea tend to find part-time employment, she said.
Despite negative stereotypes among Taiwanese, part-time employment can be beneficial for those juggling work and family responsibilities, she said, adding that companies employing part-time workers are often more accommodating to women who leave for family reasons and return to work.
For industries dealing with labor shortages, hiring part-time workers is a quick way to fill workforce gaps, she said.
One downside to recruiting part-time workers is that it often requires hiring two people to cover the workload of a full-time employee, which is more costly for employers paying the minimum hourly wage, and could potentially push up personnel costs due to higher turnover and increased need for training, she added.
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