The government must work proactively to bring more youths, women, middle-aged and elderly into the work force, Premier Chang San-cheng said at the Cabinet meeting today after he was briefed by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) on its program for helping job seekers find employment and balancing the supply and demand of the labor force.
The premier stated that in 2015 the average labor participation rate was 58.65 percent, the highest in the past 20 years, while unemployment averaged 3.78 percent, the lowest in the past 15 years. These figures demonstrate that the job market is developing steadily, he said.
However, the nation is facing a severe challenge from changes in its population structure. It is estimated that beginning this year the working-age (aged 15-64) population will plummet by 180,000 per year. The premier enjoined the MOL to continue to work hard to mitigate this impact so every line of business can find enough workers.
Chang noted that the program implemented between 2014 and 2016 to promote youth employment has already garnered concrete results.
To help middle-aged and elderly workers as well as women and people with disabilities to have steady employment and feel at ease about their jobs, the MOL must strictly enforce the employment protection measures stipulated in relevant laws and regulations as well as work to eliminate all kinds of discrimination and job-seeking hurdles, the premier stated.
Chang expects the MOL to make use of big data to inspire more retirees to return to the work force.
In light of the impacts from the continued bottoming-out of the global economy as well as the changes to the nation's population structure, the MOL will continue to refine its various employment programs. It will keep track of the job market, help citizens get employed, make manpower use more efficient, effectively raise labor participation and balance labor supply and demand in order to institute a comprehensive job safety net.