Reducing demand for manpower, improving the work environment, and adjusting the industry structure

　　The COA is taking three major steps in this area:

● promoting labor-saving cultivation technology, including automation and mechanization, to reduce the need for manpower;

● promoting adjustment of the industrial structure and improvement of the operational environment to construct industrial value chains and raise the value of production, thereby attracting young people into farming, and

● conducting specialized training (more than 4,500 man-sessions of training per year), offering case-by-case guidance to young farmers, and cultivating skilled people for agro-technology businesses.

Trial implementation of labor reassignment and student part-time agricultural work

● Trial reassignment of seasonal agricultural labor

In 2014, the COA helped 48 farmers' associations in 12 cities and counties to organize 649 rural women, new immigrants, and indigenous people into agricultural service teams. After giving these teams training in agricultural skills, we arranged for 304 farmers, agro-businesses, production and marketing teams, and farmers' associations to hire 611 people from their localities, totaling 27,913 working days, in order to help meet the demand for seasonal labor.

● Student farm internships and trial part-time agricultural jobs

In 2014, the COA arranged for 80 students from six universities (National Taiwan University, National Chung Hsing University, National Chiayi University, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, National Ilan University, and Mingdao University) to do summer farm management internships at 35 farms. We also conducted, on a trial basis, part-time summer agricultural jobs for students. Besides their pay, students also received inducements from the COA: NT$3,200 per month as a bonus, accident insurance, and medical insurance for illness or injuries. In 2014, 194 students took jobs at 40 farms, assisting with farm tasks.

Building a platform for recruiting agricultural manpower to help employers find workers

　　The website for the Farmers Academy has added a joint recruitment platform for agriculture. In addition, the COA works with the 1111 Job Bank (an online employment website) to assist businesses to find workers. In 2014, a total of 659 vacancies were listed, there were 3,639 applicants, and there were a total of 1,483 mediated hires.

Evaluating demand for, and the impact of, bringing in foreign labor

　　The COA has conducted surveys of labor demand in key agriculture and food industries, the animal husbandry industries, and the animal slaughtering industries.

　　We have also conducted evaluations of demand for, and the advantages and disadvantages of, bringing in foreign agricultural labor on the basis of several parameters: key industries only; specific professions where labor is in very short supply, and restrictions on types of jobs, number of workers, and location of workers.

　　Foreign labor will only be brought in for those industries in which there is a year-round labor shortage and which are in urgent need of labor, and for which various measures to attract domestic labor to these industries have been tried but have failed to solve the labor shortage problem. The basic concept is to fill gaps in the workforce, not to lower costs for employers, and foreign labor will only be allowed under the principle that it does not impact the income sources of the existing rural labor force.

　　Considering that the scale of farming operations in Taiwan is small, with respect to industries in which there are seasonal labor shortages, the COA is studying the possibility of allowing non-profit organizations (NPOs) like farmers' associations or industry groups to arrange to use foreign labor in providing seasonal farm labor services, in order to address the particular problems associated with seasonal food industries and the absence of a single fixed employer.

　　The COA sent two reports to the Ministry of Labor's special committee that reviews policy proposals related to transnational labor: (i) "The Current Situation with Regard to Labor Shortages in Major Domestic Agricultural Industries, and Response Measures", and (ii) "Completely Opening the Animal Slaughtering Industry to Hiring of Foreign Labor."

　　The COA held seven seminars in 2014 to strengthen communication with people outside the agency and gather opinions from a wide variety of sources about hiring foreign labor for agriculture.

　　We have established a cooperative platform with the Ministry of Labor (MOL) and convened a coordinating task force to strengthen cross- ministerial communication; created an "agricultural special section" heading on the TaiwanJobs website (i.e. a specific listing to click on that sends you to a page for job openings in the agricultural sector), and worked through the 359 employment services centers that the MOL has across Taiwan to help agricultural employers recruit workers.