Taiwan is banning more Indonesian agencies from sending migrant workers to Taiwan. That was the word from the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday as it added more Indonesian manpower agencies onto a list of banned companies. Taiwan has seen a spike in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 from Indonesia in recent days.
The command center said that it will temporarily suspend the entry of Indonesian migrant workers into Taiwan for two weeks starting December 4.
The labor ministry on Tuesday said that the ministry plans to take on three new measures to help local needs. They include providing Taiwanese caregivers for employers who have hired migrant workers from Indonesia, and extending the stay of migrant workers in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the economics ministry said that 70% of migrant workers from Indonesia enter Taiwan as caregivers while 30% of them come as factory workers. The ministry said that with the temporary ban, the manufacturing industry will be short 300 to 400 workers. The ministry said that it will seek foreign workers from other countries and local workers to fill those gaps. The ministry said it will also cooperate with the labor ministry to provide necessary assistance in emergency manpower shortages at local manufacturing companies.