Taiwan to open 800,000 jobs to foreign workers, OFWs among top picks —MECO

At least 800,000 employment opportunities for foreign workers will be opening up in Taiwan—and Filipinos will be favored for jobs in some sectors, according to the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, Taiwan.

In a "24 Oras" report by JP Soriano on Wednesday, Taiwan Labor Representative Cesar Chavez, Jr. said Taiwan aims to hire more Filipino employees, particularly in the service and hospitality sector, which will be expanded in the coming months.

Hundreds of thousands of workers from other countries are said to be the target, and Filipinos are among the favored groups.

“The target is mga December daw mag a-announce na and something like 800,000 workers,” said Chavez.

The demand for Pinoy English teachers is also high, according to MECO. Since Taiwan holds a bilingual program, the country is looking for more English teachers.

“‘Yung LET passer na teacher ay averaging 72,000 NT$, so that’s around P130,000 a month. Yung mga non-let passer, 40,000 NT$ so mga P70,000,” Chavez said.

Taiwan might be a small country, but more than 150,000 OFWs are deployed there, most as factory workers.

One of the successful OFWs in Taiwan is Jeffrey Opriasa, who was recently honored as one of the country's "model migrant workers."

Opriasa started as an operator in a semiconductor factory, until he was promoted to line reader. He is now a head troubleshooter who trains not only fellow Filipinos but also other nationalities.

“Nakita nila bakit yung mga Pilipino sobrang flexible, ang bibilis kumilos, sobrang liliksi,” he said.

“From Presidential Palace daw sabi niya, Jeff napili ka ng Presidential, mame-meet ng personal yung President ng Taiwan ,bibigyan ka ng award for the best employee ng Taiwan, sabi ko, wow!” Opriasa said. — Sherylin Untalan/BM, GMA Integrated News