Labor Affairs chief defends new job training program

“The program was devised to provide the underprivileged, particularly the unemployed and fresh college graduates, with opportunities to learn a skill and gain access to the employment market,” Wang said. She said that the program was not available to businesses such as security and insurance companies, funeral providers and cleaning services because those types of jobs would not be able to offer workers useful training.

Under the “immediate hire” program that the council unveiled Monday, trainees can undergo a course from one month to three months at the company before being formally employed and will receive a monthly salary of NT$17,280 (US$540) during the period, with the government subsidizing NT$12,000 of the pay, she said.

If the council's Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training is in charge of the training, each trainee will receive a monthly wage of NT$10,368 from the company, with the government granting NT$5,000 in subsidies.

“The government will strictly monitor the program to avoid any abuse of cheap labor under the program, as some people have warned about,” she said, adding that the government grants subsidies to help the trainees maintain a normal life while learning job skills.

“Jobs that only require a training period of one or two weeks do not qualify for the program, and the participating companies must hire at least 90 percent of the trainees that complete the programs,” Wang said.

Wang's remarks came after the Chinese-language Liberty Times ran a front-page report Tuesday that cited lawmakers and labor groups as accusing the program of being a ploy to help Premier Wu Den-yih save his position. Wu promised earlier this year to resign if the country's unemployment rate was still above 5 percent at the end of the year.

Labor groups complained that the program would allow companies to hire workers for only NT$5,000 a month, according to the report.

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