TAIPEI (TVBS News) — More and more businesses in Taiwan have felt the impact of the nation's declining birth rate as youth employment rates in the labor market continue to drop.
Although there are many vacancies in the job market, young adults nowadays prefer more flexible work schedules and environments.
However, this type of working mode is not prevalent among manufacturing or more traditional industries, meaning young adults will be less likely to seek employment there, creating a huge gap in the labor force.
According to the Ministry of Labor, the number of people aged between 15-29 in the workforce was 2.48 million in 2010. However, this dropped to just 2.32 million in 2021, around 160,000 fewer people.
Experts expect the situation to get even worse in the future.
Huang Cheng-chih, the CEO of a digital talent platform pointed out that young workers are not easy to find these days. He noted that both the declining fertility rates and fierce global competition can be attributed to the problem.
"You should standardize your workflow, because in today's society, once your workflow can be standardized, you can reduce your dependence on specific talents," Huang said.
According to a recent survey by a local job bank, 65% of businesses in Taiwan suffer from labor shortage issues today.
From the food service industry to the semiconductor industries, job vacancy rates will likely become an even bigger problem to address in the future.
