Earlier this month, The China Post reported that a meeting was held by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to discuss the possibility of relaxing some of the current restrictions on hiring foreigners as “white-collar” employees. Immigration officials and others in the fields of education and economics attended the conference, but the report stated that the meeting concluded without any consensus being reached.

It’s understandable that no decisions were made. The idea of opening Taiwan’s labor market to more foreign talent is a complicated and contentious one. As the regulations stand, a foreign white-collar employee is required to have two years of relevant working experience and their monthly salary must not be lower than NT$47,971 ($1,700). These restrictions mean it’s likely that many small and medium-sized local businesses might be less inclined to hire a foreign national. But having more foreign white-collar employees might well be a boon to Taiwan’s economy. Instead of taking away local jobs, these workers could actually assist in “enlarging the economic pie,” as several commentators have put it. Imagine a small Taiwanese company trying to break into the European market. They would no doubt benefit enormously from hiring say, an EU national who speaks several European languages. This worker could assist with marketing, sales and at trade show events while giving the local company invaluable first-hand knowledge of European business culture.

On the other hand, it’s understandable that some have reservations about the idea. Should regulations be relaxed, a percentage of the new foreign workers could well turn out to be less than “model citizens.” But, this is the case in every nation on earth and hardly a good reason to reject a plan to liberalize laws related to immigrant white-collar employees. Taiwan’s society, as well as its legal system, is tough enough to weather any such “social” problems. Another objection might be the “taking our jobs” argument; however there is little evidence that foreign workers would take positions that would otherwise go to a local employee ― foreign workers are generally hired to fill very specific needs.

Some of the officials who attended the CLA meeting were reported to have stated that Taiwan is beginning to lose local talent to other countries. It’s well known that there are many Taiwanese now employed as white-collar workers in mainland China. These officials are said to have argued that the time has come to begin attracting more foreign talent in a bid to maintain Taiwan’s economic competiveness. This argument has merit.

It is interesting to note that rules regarding the hiring of foreign English teachers are significantly simpler. For the most part, a foreigner who wishes to be hired by one of the many chains of local licensed “buxiban” or cram schools needs to be from an English-speaking country and must hold a valid university degree. This would mean that theoretically, a South African who studied Baroque architecture would be qualified to teach English to Taiwanese children. This same theoretical South African, however, might not be allowed to work for a Taiwanese company that does trade with South Africa. It seems fair to question why the qualification requirements for English teachers are reasonably low while the bar for white-collar jobs is higher. As an aside, the government might also want to consider moving towards requiring English teachers to possess some kind of teaching certificate or at least have a university degree that has something to do with the English language or education.

If the government does decide to loosen the rules for hiring white-collar foreign workers it will need to set some ground rules. The rights and responsibilities of both the employee and the employer will need to be established and made clear to both parties. This process will not be an easy undertaking, but it is time to begin reevaluating the laws regarding hiring white-collar foreign workers.

(Editorial, The China Post)

(Asia News Network)