连锁加盟协会调查：98.8%业者面临第一线缺工，吁开放服务业移工从5%起步
台北——据中央社报道，台湾连锁暨加盟协会10月2日在台北举行第25届年会论坛，公布今年7至8月针对160家连锁加盟业者所做的缺工调查：高达98.8%的业者面临门市第一线人力短缺，其中82.5%属于中度至严重缺工，57%的业者缺工已持续超过一年，逾八成表示情况较去年没有改善。连锁加盟业涵盖餐饮、零售、住宿与生活服务等民生业态，是台湾吸纳就业人口最多的服务业部门之一，第一线人力长期仰赖本国劳工。
调查显示，缺工已实质影响营运：77.5%的业者表示现有员工工作量因此上升，60.5%排班困难，29.4%被迫缩短营业时间；另据工商时报报道，47.5%的业者反映，新进员工约半数在到职半年内离职，人力始终补不满。协会理事长蔡德忠在论坛上建议，政府开放服务业引进移工，可先以总员工数5%的上限起步试行；他同时身兼杏一医疗用品总经理。他并建议放宽侨外生毕业留台规定：现行侨外生毕业后有2年免申请工作许可期间，但期满后第一线服务工作不符合「专门性或技术性工作」资格，难以续留台湾。
目前台湾仅开放旅宿业与商港业引进移工，首批35名印尼籍饭店移工已于9月14日抵台投入工作。协会秘书长为洪雅玲。国发会推估，台湾工作年龄人口到2035年将较2015年高峰减少28%，台湾总人口已进入负成长阶段，劳动力供给持续缩减，少子化与人口老化使服务业缺工被视为长期结构性问题，业者呼吁政府尽早提出开放时程与配套作法。
Survey: 98.8% of Taiwan's Chain Stores Face Front-Line Labor Shortages; Association Urges Opening the Service Sector to Migrant Workers
Taipei — Nearly every chain and franchise business in Taiwan is short of front-line staff, according to a survey released by the Taiwan Chain Stores and Franchise Association at its 25th annual forum in Taipei on October 2, the Central News Agency reported. The poll, conducted in July and August among 160 chain and franchise companies, found that 98.8 percent face store-level labor shortages, 82.5 percent describe the shortage as moderate to severe, 57 percent have been short-staffed for more than a year, and over 80 percent see no improvement from last year. The sector spans restaurants, retail, lodging and daily-life services — among the largest employers in Taiwan's service economy — and its front line has long depended on domestic workers.
The shortage is biting into operations: 77.5 percent of businesses said workloads for existing staff have risen, 60.5 percent struggle with scheduling, and 29.4 percent have cut business hours. The Commercial Times reported that, according to the same survey, about half of new hires at 47.5 percent of businesses quit within six months, so vacancies never stay filled. Association chairman Jimmy Tsai urged the government to open the service sector to migrant workers, starting with a cap of 5 percent of each company's workforce. Tsai is also general manager of medical supplier Apricot Forest (Hsin Yi). He further proposed easing the rules for overseas Chinese and foreign graduates: they currently receive a two-year work-permit-exempt period after graduation, but front-line service jobs do not qualify as specialized or technical work once that period ends, making it hard for them to stay on in Taiwan.
At present, only the hospitality and commercial port sectors may hire migrant workers; the first group of 35 Indonesian hotel workers arrived on September 14. The association's secretary-general is Hung Ya-ling. The National Development Council projects that Taiwan's working-age population will shrink 28 percent by 2035 from its 2015 peak; with the total population already in decline and the labor supply steadily shrinking, low birth rates and aging make service-sector shortages a structural problem rather than a passing one. Businesses are calling on the government to set out a timetable and supporting measures sooner rather than later.
图片来源：基隆庙口夜市的摊商与人潮，Bigmorr 摄，CC0 1.0（Wikimedia Commons）
