Taiwan is hiring

Taiwan posted recently that they are in need of at least 8,000 fishermen, job recruitment industry officials said.  Jackson Gan, president of the Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (PILMAT), confirmed the report.  “Taiwan is looking to the Philippines to supply more Filipino fishermen to fill in its fishing fleet that grossed $2.9 billion last year,” Gan said.  He also said the prevailing under-population in Taiwan has resulted in fewer fishermen joining fishing fleets.

“This increasing number of Chinese fishing boats has decreased the number of mainland Chinese fishermen who used to crew Taiwan’s fishing fleets and is now hampering the operations of Taiwan’s own fishing industry due to the serious manpower shortage,” Gan added. Although thousands of job openings are available for Filipino fishermen in Taiwan, Gan said government assistance is necessary to deploy them.

Before deployment, a fisherman or seafarer, Gan said, must undergo a training program for eight to 10 days costing from P4,000 to P8,000 in maritime training centers or schools.-(Philstar)