Lawmakers urge government to include blue-collar workers in talent program By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter Highly skilled blue-collar workers are being excluded from government attempts to attract foreign talent, lawmakers yesterday told a joint meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, and Education and Culture Committee. Draft amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法修正草案) seek to ease requirements for foreign white-collar employees who want to work in Taiwan, but in-demand blue-collar workers face much more onerous rules, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) said. “There are many migrant workers who come to Taiwan to work in our tech factories on the production lines under the Employment Service Act (就業服務法),” Kao said. “They are highly skilled workers, yet they are limited to 12 to 14 years here before they have to leave Taiwan.”