Friday, January 25, 2008
CNA
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The number of migrant workers approached the 360,000
mark by the end of last year, but over the long term that figure will
gradually decline, the country's top labor administrator said
yesterday.
At the end of 2007, Taiwan had 357,937 legal foreign workers, Council
of Labor Affairs (CLA) Minister Lu Tien-lin said, adding that the
number marked an increase of about 20,000 over the year-earlier level.
Lu attributed the increase to a combination of factors, including a
steady increase in the demand for caregivers as Taiwan's population
continues to age.
The upward swing was further augmented last year by a rising labor
demand in the manufacturing sector thanks to the return of expatriate
Taiwanese businessmen to launch new investment projects at home, Lu
said. CLA tallies also show that the number of migrant workers
increased by 13,426 in the manufacturing sector as compared with the
2006 level, while the number of caregivers increased by 8,311.
By nationality, Indonesians formed the largest national group,
according to CLA statistics.
With Taiwan's elderly population continuing to rise, Lu said, the
number of caregivers has increased by 8,000 to 10,000 annually. As for
the number of migrant workers in the industrial sector, Lu said the
number is expected to begin a downward trend over the next four years
as major investment projects are gradually completed.
Meanwhile, he went on, the CLA is set to extend Labor Standards Law
coverage to all manual laborers, including local and foreign
caregivers, within two years.
Acknowledging that this coverage could increase the financial burden
on local employers, Lu said the CLA will refer to measures in place in
the U.S. and in European countries to confine the coverage to certain
categories of family helpers or maids.
