Taiwan targets increased workforce participation

2014-10-06

Taiwan aims to boost labor force participation rate from 58 percent at present to 60 percent in 2020, as a key plank of its plan to solve issues created by the aging population.

“New policies will mitigate the impact of the aging population and bolster the potential labor pool,” Premier Jiang Yi-huah said Oct. 2. “The government will work toward boosting birth rates, encouraging retention of older workers, implementing pension reforms and increasing female labor force participation.”

Extra attention will be paid to sectors such as service and smart industries that are suitable for mature citizens, with the official retirement age raised to allow the elderly to extend their professional lives.

Increasing female workforce participation is another major focus of the plan. An overhaul of childcare and long-term care systems should elevate female participation to 51 percent by 2016.

“In addition, we will consider easing regulations for foreign students to stay and work in Taiwan,” Jiang said. “The workforce can be strengthened by this international contribution.”

According to the National Development Council, Taiwan’s total available labor force aged 15 to 64 is projected to peak at 17.37 million in 2015 before declining.

The percentage of the population aged 65 or over has risen from 7 percent in 1993 to 11.73 percent today. It is estimated to exceed 14 percent in 2017, qualifying the country as an aged society, before hitting 20 percent in 2025, making the nation a superaged society.

The transformation in the population’s age structure will impact not only labor participation but educational resource allocation, tax revenues and military enlistment, Jiang added.

The premier instructed all agencies to take age demographics into account when planning policy, so as to strategize in line with the NDC’s population policy guidelines.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222388&CtNode=413)