TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Labor announced on Monday that there are 276,000 job vacancies nationwide, with the manufacturing sector accounting for the most openings. 

With Taiwan’s declining birthrate fueling a labor shortage, detailed data on unfilled positions have been lacking, per CNA. To address this, the MOL launched its first labor shortage survey in April, combining industry hiring and turnover data.

As of late March, the industrial and service sectors recorded a combined vacancy rate of 3.1%. Industry accounted for 114,000 openings (41.3%), while services 162,000 (58.7%).

There were 92,000 vacancies (33.5%) in manufacturing, followed by wholesale and retail trade with 47,000 (16.9%) and accommodation and food services with 25,000 (9.1%). Together, these three industries made up nearly 60% of total openings.

Construction, healthcare, and social work services each had more than 16,000 vacancies. Vacancy rates were highest in accommodation and food services (4.4%), arts and entertainment (4%), and construction (3.4%).

Of the total, 253,000 positions were full-time (91.7%) and 23,000 part-time (8.3%). Construction, real estate, and manufacturing were dominated by full-time roles, while accommodation and food services had the lowest share at 66.6%.

By occupational category, professionals accounted for the most vacancies at 65,000 (25.7%), followed by machine operators at 60,000 (23.8%), and technicians and associate professionals at 53,000 (20.8%). By skill level, mid- to high-skill roles such as supervisors made up 49.3%, clerical jobs 46.1%, while basic laborers represented just 4.6%.

Recruitment timeframes showed that nearly 50% of full-time positions took one to three months to fill. Around 20% took less than one month, another 20% three to six months, and 12.8% remained open for more than six months, with the average recruitment period lasting 3.5 months.

Construction, transportation, and other services had the longest recruitment periods at 4.4 months. Healthcare followed at 4.1 months, while manufacturing averaged 3.5 months and accommodation and food services 3.3 months.

By job type, machine operators and basic laborers had the longest recruitment times at 4.1 months and 4 months. Service and sales workers averaged 3.7 months, while clerical staff were hired fastest at just 2.3 months.