FEATURE: Older workers in high demand at local firms
Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwanese firms are increasingly aiming to recruit middle-aged and older workers, as the nation’s population ages rapidly due to a falling birthrate.
Last year, Taiwan’s population shrank for the first time, with Ministry of the Interior data published last month showing 173,156 deaths and 165,249 births.
The population dropped 0.18 percent to 23,561,236, after peaking at 23,773,876 in 2019, the data showed.
While deaths were down 1.78 percent from 2019, births were at a record low, down 7.04 percent from 2019, it showed.
This continued a trend over the previous few years.
There were 8.409 births per 1,000 people last year, in 2019 there were 8.417 births and in 2018 there were 8.425, the data showed. Last year, the average number of children born to a Taiwanese woman during her lifetime was 1.05, the second-lowest in the world after South Korea’s 0.92.