(FWA 2025/07/04)Recently, many industries in Taiwan have been urgently reporting labor shortages. In June, the Foreign Workers news Agency(FWA) conducted a survey, asking manpower agency operators for their observations on industries facing shortages and their policy recommendations. Approximately 67% of the respondents suggested opening up cleaning jobs to migrant workers, while 56% recommended their deployment in the logistics sector. The accommodation industry, which ranked first last year, dropped to third this year at 48%.

The accommodation industry‘s labor gap is among the most significant across all industries experiencing shortages. The Tourism Administration estimates a shortfall of about 5,000 to 6,000 workers. The domestic tourism market hasn’t fully recovered, and operators are struggling with labor shortages, impacting long-term planning.

Last year, the Ministry of Labor(MOL) allowed overseas Chinese or foreign students graduated in Taiwan with associate degrees or higher to work in accommodation services, but as of the end of May, only one person had taken up the offer. The Tourism Administration recently disclosed plans to conditionally open up the accommodation sector to migrant workers through special projects. The Ministry of Labor, however, only responded that inter-ministerial discussions are ongoing, with the policy direction focused on attracting more overseas skilled workers.

Concerning this matter, over 50% of the manpower agency operators surveyed by the FWA believe that the government’s introduction of overseas skilled personnel could help alleviate the accommodation industry’s labor shortage. However, 33.3% of the surveyed operators believed it wouldn’t help, and 14.8% were unsure whether it would be effective.

Further analysis of potential obstacles to the policy revealed that 55% of respondents believed foreign students were unwilling to engage in grassroots work, and 52% felt that businesses lacked the willingness or ability to bear higher salaries. Additionally, 40.7% of respondents believed that introducing skilled personnel offered little benefit to the manpower agency industry, affecting policy effectiveness.

近來臺灣許多產業頻喊缺工，外勞社6月展開問卷調查，詢問人力仲介業者對缺工產業的觀察與政策建議；約67%的受訪者建議開放移工從事清潔工作，56%的受訪者則建議開放移工投入物流業，去年排名居首的旅宿業今年降至48%，位居第三。

旅宿業的人力缺口在各缺工產業中名列前茅，據觀光署估計缺工人數約5-6千人。國內旅遊市場尚未恢復，業者同時受缺工所苦，影響長期規劃。

勞動部去年開放副學士以上畢業僑外生可從事旅宿服務工作，不過至5月底僅1人投入。觀光署日前透露將有條件專案開放旅宿業移工；但勞動部僅回應正跨部會研議中，以延攬更多海外技術人力為政策方向。

對此，外勞社的問卷調查中，有超過5成的業者認為政府引進海外技術人員，能有助於改善旅宿業缺工問題；不過也有33.3%的受訪業者則認為沒有幫助，14.8%表示不清楚是否能產生效益。

進一步分析政策可能受阻的因素，55%的受訪者認為外籍學生沒有意願從事基層工作，52%的受訪者則認為企業缺乏意願或能力負擔較高薪資；40.7%的受訪者則認為引進技術人員對人力仲介產業效益不高，影響政策效果。