Premier Lai Ching-te on Monday announced two new action plans: one to raise salaries for Taiwan's lowest-paid workers, and the other to improve pay for all. At a morning press conference personally hosted by the premier, he said that persistently low pay is a widely shared concern among the public, and that solving the problem is a top priority for President Tsai Ing-wen. The press conference covered the current state of wages in Taiwan, research on low salaries, and government strategies formulated in response.
The action plan to improve wages for low-paid workers lists five short-term measures. These include the government's initiative to increase public-sector compensation, as well as beginning to include worker pay as a bonus criteria for selecting contractors and making awards. Also among short-term actions are encouraging higher private-sector salaries, increasing pay transparency and raising hourly wages.
In response to a long record of sluggish investment in Taiwan's economy, President Tsai initiated the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program and the "five plus two" innovative industries plan, said Premier Lai. The Executive Yuan will also promote increased investment, accelerate the upgrade of industry, lighten the burden shouldered by wage earners, improve the quality of the workforce, and close the gap between student skills and industry needs, as called for by the five medium- and long-term measures of the action plan to boost pay generally. With the unwavering pursuit of such efforts, the government and private enterprise can come together to increase investment opportunities, push the structural transformation of Taiwan's economy, and solve the problem of low salaries.
The Executive Yuan indicated that the best strategy for raising pay is to promote the structural transformation of the economy, as well as implement short-, medium- and long-term measures in parallel. The government will continue to relax rules and regulations and optimize the environments for investment and innovation. Strengthening domestic investment will drive the upgrade of industry, improve productivity and create even more highly paid positions to fill. Over the medium and long terms, the continued pursuit of existing policies and complementary measures—including, for example, resolving shortages that hinder industry, lightening the burden shouldered by wage earners, and shrinking the gap between student skills and job-market requirements—can be expected to maximize effectiveness and push up pay standards in Taiwan.