After Israel, Taiwan wants 1 lakh Indian workers for factories, farms and hospitals

Taiwan is planning to hire over 100,000 Indians to work in factories, farms and hospitals and these workers might move to the island nation as early as next month. According to a report by Bloomberg, people familiar with the developments said that as India and Taiwan seek to strengthen relations to counter China’s threat, the two nations will sign an employment mobility agreement by next month. Taiwan is offering Indians pay parity with locals and insurance policies. Meanwhile, a method to certify the health of the Indian workers who are willing to go to Taiwan is currently being worked out. The island country is the latest nation with which India has signed an employment contract in recent years. The other nations include Japan, France and the UK while similar deals are being worked out with  the Netherlands, Greece, Denmark and Switzerland. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday confirmed that the India-Taiwan jobs pact is now in the final stages of negotiations. The developments come at a time when Taiwan needs more workers owing to its rapidly aging population. The island nation is set to become a “super-aged” society by 2025, with elderly people making up at least a fifth of its population. Indian workers needed in Israel Construction works in Israel have come to a standstill since the October 7 Hamas attack. To resume activity, the Israeli construction industry has asked the Benjamin Netanyahu government to allow companies to hire up to 1 lakh Indian workers to replace the 90,000 Palestinians whose work permits have been cancelled since the conflict began. A report by Voice of America quoted vice-president of the Israel Builders Association, Haim Feiglin, saying: “Right now we are negotiating with India. We are waiting for the decision of the Israeli government to approve that and we hope to have 50,000 to 100,000 workers from India to be able to run the sector and bring it back to normal.” Feiglin further said, the situation of the Israeli construction sector, right now, is “quite complicated”.] As per Feiglin, Palestinian workers account for about 25 per cent of the workforce employed in Israel’s construction sector. They have been restricted from returning to work since October 7.