Labor Minister Pan Shih-wei says there is no evidence that low salary levels are connected to importing foreign labor. Pan was responding on Monday to a local media report that linked a lack of growth in wages to Taiwanese manufacturers employing cheap foreign labor.
“This is a macroeconomic problem that demands more careful study to prove a correlation," said Pan. "I don’t think it is that simple. When manufacturers use more foreign labor, it means that the economy is getting better and creating more jobs for Taiwanese workers. So we need careful analysis to understand the relationship. I don’t want to speculate here.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Workforce Development Agency said that although there are studies on whether the use of foreign laborers is related to low pay for local workers, there is no evidence to show a direct link. He said that the government requires companies to maintain a certain ratio between foreign and local workers. So when they hire more foreign labor, more local workers will also be hired.