Taiwan to ease regulations on hiring foreign professionals

2015/12/07

Taiwan will ease restrictions on the hiring and retaining of foreign professionals commencing January 2016, according to the Cabinet Dec. 3.

Through the relaxation of the regulations, the ROC government is seeking to add up to 8,000 skilled professionals per year to the country’s workforce in order to help make up for the average annual outflow of 20,000 to 30,000 local white-collar workers over the last decade.

Premier Mao Chi-kuo said the regulatory easing will strengthen the nation’s talent pool without affecting the local job market. “Taiwan is facing a major brain drain and demographic changes through the steady export of high-end professionals, as well as a rapidly aging population and low birthrate.

“We need to bolster Taiwan’s competitiveness by creating a friendly environment that attracts quality foreign workers and facilitates their employment in such fields as 5G communications, advanced semiconductors, biopharmaceuticals, global financial services, high-end manufacturing processes, innovative R&D, product and user experience design, productivity 4.0, renewable energy and smart systems integration.”

The premier made the remarks following a Cabinet briefing on the scheme by the Ministry of Labor in Taipei City. He added the proposed measures will be implemented in phases.

Starting next year, a points-based system will be launched to assess any foreign national wishing to work in Taiwan. Those who score more than 60 points in an evaluation of their educational background, language proficiency and professional capabilities will qualify under the new regulations.

At present, local firms wishing to hire foreign professionals must meet strict requirements pertaining to their capital and sales, while workers seeking employment in Taiwan must have prior work experience and receive a salary over a specified amount. Said rules will be scrapped in favor of the more lenient alternatives, according to the MOL.

The new regulations will also relax the 14-year cap on foreign laborers’ stays in Taiwan. Under the amendments, employers can apply to extend stays beyond the current limit as long as the laborers have been employed in the nation for a minimum of nine years and are categorized as skilled workers. It is estimated that 1,000 workers each year will be able to prolong their employment as senior technicians via the scheme.

In addition, the ministry is mulling granting permanent residency to the blue-collar foreign professionals who have been in Taiwan for at least nine years and choose to extend their stays. Qualified under the points-based evaluation system, they may apply for naturalization after working in Taiwan for five more years.

The MOL said it expects the new measures to take effect in January, while some changes requiring legislative revisions are slated for completion by year-end 2016.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=239785&ctNode=2194&mp=9)