Workforce Development Agency

Early period of professional training

Taiwan is an island surrounded by sea, and severely lacks natural resources. It focuses on export processing and precise machinery as its primary goals for development, rendering the training of technical talent vital. Therefore after the 1950s, the Industrial Vocational Training Association was founded with funding from the UN, which established the ground work for vocational training. The association was nullified after Taiwan’s withdrawal from the UN. In 1972, the Vocational Training Fund Act was founded, which required enterprises to establish a certain proportion of funding for vocational training, but the Act became void due to difficulties.

The founding of the Vocational Training Bureau

The Vocational Training Bureau was founded on March 2nd, 1981. It was originally governed under the Ministry of the Interior, and in charge of vocational training, skill testing, and employment guidance around the country. The Council of Labor Affairs was established on August 1st, 1987 which oversaw administration of workers within the nation. The Vocational Training Bureau was transferred under the Council’s jurisdiction, and established four vocational training centers: Taishan, Northern district, Central district, and Southern district.

Expanding the range of service in order to accommodate the change of time

The early period of ROC’s vocational training policy was about supporting national economic development projects, and focused on the purely economic aspect. After the 1990s, with the transformation of industries and the exportation of traditional industries, issues of structural unemployment began to arise. In order to lessen the impact on minority groups, promotion of social welfare has been added to ROC’s vocational training aims.

On July 1st, 1998, with the adjustment of the tasks and organization of the Taiwan Provincial Government, the original provincial Taoyuan and Tainan vocational training centers and five Employment Service Stations in Keelung, Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung were transferred under the governance of the Vocational Training Bureau. Since the 2000s, the organization has combined employment insurance and employment service, and emphasizes employment safety within vocational training. In order to keep up with social development and improve industrial growth, and ensure employment opportunity for ROC’s laborers, foreign laborers were introduced in accord with the Human Resource Complement Act of Executive Yuan in 1989. In 2002, Legislative Yuan passed the Employment Service Law to legalize verification of foreign laborer employment and administrative laws, and evaluated the approval for employing foreigners.

Meanwhile, to improve the work skills of minority groups and eliminating employment barriers, constructing a vocational reconstructing service system for the handicapped, and providing them with local service, the original technical evaluation service was transferred to the Central Zone Office of the Council of Labor Affairs under the Executive Yuan on February 1st, 2001. The former Skill Testing Division was appointed to handle employment training service for the handicapped. Its current task was expanded with new services and subsidies, enhancing the initial subsidy service for employers to hire handicapped employees, and developing opportunities for employment for handicapped workers.

The Workforce Development Agency was founded on February 17th, 2014

On January 12th, 2010, Legislative Yuan passed Four Laws for Reconstructing Government Organization after the Third Reading. In order to collaborate with organizational reconstruction of the Executive Yuan, the responsibilities of the former National Youth Commission under the Executive Yuan and Vocational Training Center for Youth was transferred to the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training, and incorporated into plans for youth employment. On January 9th, 2014, the Legislative Yuan passed the Ministry of Labor and Related Institution Law. BEVT was reorganized into the Ministry of Labor, and the WDA was also established.

In order to integrate utilization of the national labor force, improving and developing new networks, conduct advisory work for national economic development and labor force development, and react to the influence and challenge from the domestic and foreign labor environment, the task of WDA was adjusted as follows:

1.Establish the Working Ability Standards and Skills Examination Division, in order to construct a platform of national competency standards, and lower the difference between sustaining and employing talent, and serve as guidance for school session and educational training.

2.Establish International Labor Force Task Center, which is in charge of approving employers’ requests for foreign labor, and collecting employment subsidies, and simplifies approval for the international labor force.

3.Establish Labor Force Development Innovation Center, which aims to construct a system of knowledge about labor force development and a digital platform, and conducts development of teachers and methods of teaching, in order to create an innovative development strategy for the labor force, enabling Taiwan to evolve into a nurturing base for talent. To inspire the public to participate in the development of the labor force, the former Entrepreneur Phoenix of Welfare Division of Labor Committee under the Executive Yuan and the Versatile Employment Act of the Vocational Training Bureau were merged. It is expected to combine loans for entrepreneurship or innovative subsidies, assisting entrepreneurs in society and training related talent, and providing opportunities for employment.