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Language Barrier Biggest Problem for Employers of Migrant Workers: Survey

Taipei: The language barrier was the biggest problem for employers of migrant workers in Taiwan, affecting 8 to 11 percent of those who hire migrant construction, manufacturing, and live-in workers, a survey released Monday by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) found.

According to Focus Taiwan, the survey, conducted in July and August 2024, collected 4,538 valid samples from the manufacturing and construction sectors and 4,016 from employers of live-in caregivers. The MOL stated that it did not calculate the margin of error or confidence level of the results.

The survey indicated that 39.7 percent of employers in construction and manufacturing who hired migrant workers encountered problems managing them in June that year. Of those employers, 27.6 percent reported a language barrier when communicating with migrant workers, meaning around 11 percent of employers in construction and manufacturing faced this issue.

Meanwhile, 34.7 percent of individuals who hired live-in migrant caregivers experienced problems, with 23.8 percent of those employers citing the language barrier as a hindrance to communication with their employees. This translates to about 8 percent of people who hired live-in migrant caregivers struggling with communication.

Additionally, 9.9 percent of employers noted that their migrant caregiver "used their cell phone too often and spent too much time talking on the phone." However, these figures showed a decline from the previous year, where about 30 percent of employers in manufacturing and construction and around 20 percent of employers of migrant caregivers faced communication challenges in June 2023.

When inquired about the measures the MOL has implemented to address the language barrier between migrants and employers, Chuang Kuo-liang, deputy head of the Workforce Development Agency's Cross-Border Workforce Management Division, referenced a page on the WDA's Foreign National Labor Rights Portal, which provides links to basic Mandarin learning materials.