For a migrant worker from say the Philippines to come to Taiwan to work, they would need to pay an initial $2,500 US dollar placement fee in order to arrange a 3 year contract, which is the standard in Taiwan. Typically, that amount is split in half between the brokers in the receiving and sending countries, and most workers pay for it by taking out loans from local banks that need to be paid back within 1-3 years.

Once the worker gets to Taiwan, the local broker also requires the worker to pay fees every month for their 3-year contract. For their first year, these fees are US$60 a month, or US$710 a year, followed by US$670 the next year and about US$630 for the third year. That means just for the worker to come to Taiwan they pay over US$4,500 in broker fees over a 3-year period.

In Taiwan, caregivers make just over US$500 a month, which is less than half of the going rate for Taiwanese. That means that at least 1/4 of the workers’ income is spent on paying back broker fees over their 3-year contract.

Now, most of the workers actually know this information coming to Taiwan. But what shocks them is that after their 3-year contract is up they assume they can get re-hired by the same employer with no placement fees, which will then allow them to really start getting ahead. Her brokers in both Taiwan and the Philippines in particular told Vicky this. But what happened to her is that her broker in Taiwan said this was not possible and she had to leave the island to come back on a new visa, paying the same fees over again to the same broker. Those fees are in addition to the US$1,000 brokers get from employers in Taiwan.

The privatization of labor in Taiwan faces many challenges. Brokers at large cut corners and take advantage of the workers, going almost unnoticeable to the Taiwan government. The Taiwan government has stepped up to allow for direct hiring options in recent years, but unfortunately very few workers know about it.

Conclusion

So what can be done? Taiwan’s economy is increasingly dependent on migrant workers to take care of their families as well as provide low-cost solutions for the island’s manufacturers. Therefore, out of respect for not just the workers, but also Taiwan’s society as well, there are some basic things that can be done.

1. Allow migrant workers to transfer employers at will.

In Taiwan, there really isn’t a category of runaway white-collar workers. First of all, if a white-collar foreign worker in Taiwan wants to change employers he or she is free to do so. For the migrants, however, they cannot do so according to Taiwan law even if they face mistreatment unless they have sufficient evidence, so leaving their employer by definition almost always puts them in a runaway worker category.

Taxpayers in Taiwan have to pay for government services that track and deal with runaway cases when in fact if workers had the same freedom as white-collar foreign workers there would be much less costs. Taiwan’s society could also be more stable as well.

1. Make more efforts to promote direct hiring to Taiwan’s public. This can decrease the amount of workers that need to go through brokers, as well as decrease the financial burden that also causes workers to run away in Taiwan.

1. Enforce stricter laws that limit how much brokers in Taiwan can collect. Taiwan cannot control how much money brokers in sending countries receive but it can at home. Having an initial broker fee in Taiwan is not necessarily unfair, as white-collar foreign workers also go through brokers at time, but there is no reason why the brokers need to collect so much money every month after a worker arrives. A white-collar worker pays a 1-time fee around US$100 to brokers and nothing more. This is drastically smaller and is still effective for the brokers and workers.

Taiwan has the opportunity to shine in the international spotlight in how it handles foreign labor and can set an example for other nations to follow. The island really has a great chance to show its kindness to the international public, so the opportunity is here and now.

Also, the economy in the island is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign labor, such as the case in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and even China. Taiwan needs to accept this and help create good environments for its entire workforce in order to develop to its fullest.