“This commitment lifts the government funding for its employment creation scheme to NT$16.6 billion for 2010,” CLA Minister Wang Ju-hsuan said. “The resized plan will allow us to add 55,000 new jobs to the 82,000 already planned nationwide.”
The CLA decision is in keeping with ROC Premier Wu Den-yih’s vow to bring Taiwan’s unemployment rate down to 5 percent by the end of this year.
According to the latest CLA data, Taiwan’s jobless rate was 5.76 percent for February. Based on this figure, the 137,000 new positions would see unemployment fall by 1.2 percent.
Under the expanded program, employers are encouraged to hire the middle-aged and seniors. This incentive scheme is expected to create an additional 20,000 jobs. In addition, the government will offer 10,000 temporary positions in the civil service and associated sector, with 50 percent reserved for those left jobless by Typhoon Morakot.
Around 25,000 positions will be created in local government as part of efforts to raise service standards and develop targeted employment schemes. These jobs are aimed at promoting work opportunities in the tourism and green sectors.
The additional funds also permit the CLA and President Chain Store Corp., which operates the 7-Eleven convenience store franchise in Taiwan, to install job vacancy and training information electronic kiosks in thousands of company stores islandwide. (PCT-JSM)