International Migrant Workers: The "Great Living Room" of 870,000 People and the Cross-Ocean Struggle for Survival

30-Second Overview: In 2026, Taiwan, one international migrant worker exists for every 26 people. The total number has risen to 873,000; including approximately 94,000 missing migrant workers, this group of foreigners now accounts for more than 5% of Taiwan's resident population. From the livestreaming culture in the lobby of Taipei Main Station to the insistence on "abolishing the work-year limit" during the Migrant Workers' Grand March, and the wave of "opposition to Indian migrant workers" where petition signatures exceeded 40,000 in April 2026, Taiwan stands at a crossroads of extreme labor shortages and social integration anxiety. This is not merely a labor policy issue, but a collective trial of how Taiwan defines "us."

In 1989, Taiwan first approved the introduction of migrant workers to address major construction projects ¹. Thirty-seven years later, the role of this group has shifted from "supplementary labor" to "pillar of social structure." According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Labor as of late March 2026, the number of legal migrant workers in Taiwan has reached 873,347, a significant increase from two years ago ². Including non-citizen permanent residents, the foreign population in Taiwan has exceeded 1.22 million, accounting for approximately 5.2% ³.

The Reality in Data: Structural Distribution of 870,000 People

Of these 873,000 migrant workers, approximately 774,000 have valid employment permits. Among them, industrial migrant workers number about 546,000 (62.5%), primarily distributed in the metal products industry (108,000), electronic components industry (84,000), and food manufacturing industry (43,000); social welfare migrant workers number 228,000 (37.5%), serving as the sole pillar for countless families' long-term care needs ⁴.

However, deep contradictions lie behind the data. A late 2025 survey showed that Taiwan's industrial and service sector job vacancies numbered approximately 263,000, yet at the same time, nearly 400,000 local workers were unemployed ⁵. This has sparked a long-standing debate on "job-unemployment mismatch": unemployed local workers often lack the skills, age appropriateness, or geographic flexibility to fill vacancies in the 3K (Kulao, Zanglao, Xianlao — Hard, Dirty, Dangerous) industries, while migrant workers have become the only source filling these low-wage, high-labor gaps.

Taipei Main Station Lobby: From "Ban on Sitting" to Livestreaming Culture

Every Sunday, the gathering on the black-and-white checkered floor of Taipei Main Station (North Station) lobby is Taiwan's most conspicuous foreign landscape. This tradition sparked fierce protests during the 2020 pandemic due to the "Ban on Sitting" order, and subsequently evolved into the current "conditional opening" following debates on public space rights and migrant workers' leave rights ⁶.

For migrant workers, this place is not just a transportation hub, but a "livestream room." In the North Station lobby, migrant workers can be seen almost anywhere livestreaming on their phones, with content ranging from hometown food to laughter with friends ⁷.

• Psychological Support: Livestreaming serves as the umbilical cord connecting them across the ocean to their hometowns.
• Reclaiming Subjectivity: In front of the camera, they are no longer labor power called upon by employers, but subjects with a sense of life.
• Negative Controversies: However, the accompanying noise, space occupation, and cleaning costs continue to trigger polarized reactions from local public opinion and netizens, reflecting the dilemmas of public space governance.

📝 Curator's Note: The bright light of the livestream phone stand is the only spotlight they can control themselves in a foreign land.

Four Source Countries: Four Faces Supporting Taiwan

Before the formal addition of Indian migrant workers, Taiwan's migrant worker map was constituted by Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand, with nationalities and missing rates presenting vastly different labor landscapes [^8]:

Indonesia (329,000): Long-term Care Pillar and the "Zero Fee" Controversy

Indonesia is Taiwan's largest source country for migrant workers, with approximately 75% engaged in social welfare work. They are the "invisible family members" of countless Taiwanese families, yet they are also at the center of diplomatic tug-of-wars. In recent years, the Indonesian government has pushed a "Zero Fee" policy, requiring employers to bear the costs of bringing migrant workers to Taiwan, triggering strong backlash from Taiwanese employers. As Indonesia's per capita GDP continues to rise, whether the willingness of Indonesian migrant workers to come to Taiwan will decrease has become a hidden concern for Taiwan's long-term care system.

Vietnam (294,000): Mainstay of Manufacturing and High Missing Risk

Vietnamese migrant workers are the absolute mainstay of traditional manufacturing and fisheries. However, Vietnamese migrant workers also have the highest proportion of missing persons, primarily due to the immense debt pressure from agency fees before coming to Taiwan, leading them to choose "running away" into the black market for higher income when facing harsh environments.

Philippines (178,000): Electronics Industry and English Advantage

Benefiting from a higher prevalence of English, Filipino migrant workers are mostly distributed in the high-tech electronic components industry. In institutional nursing and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industries, Filipino migrant workers are also highly favored for their communication advantages.

Thailand (71,000): The Pushers Behind the Construction Skyline

From the national highway construction in the 1990s to the construction of high-tech factories for companies like TSMC today, Thai migrant workers have always been the mainstay of the construction industry. However, with Thailand's economic development, the number of Thai migrant workers has declined year by year, reflecting challenges in Taiwan's competitiveness in the international labor market.

Migrant Workers' Grand March: The Cry to Abolish the "Work-Year Limit"

The biennial "Migrant Workers' Grand March" made its appearance again in December 2025. In addition to the long-standing demand for "free employer switching," the core focus of this session was "abolishing the work-year limit (12-14 years) for blue-collar migrant workers" ⁸.

Although the government promoted the "Intermediate Technical Human Resources Retention Plan" (approved for over 62,000 people as of early 2026), aiming to allow senior migrant workers to stay and work in Taiwan, the application power for this system lies entirely with employers, and the salary threshold was further raised in 2026, leading many experienced migrant workers to still face the dilemma of being repatriated after reaching the limit ⁹.

Missing Migrant Workers: Institutional Failure Breaking 94,000

As of early 2026, the number of missing migrant workers in Taiwan has reached 94,000 ¹⁰. The main reasons for going missing are not "innate love for running away," but systemic dilemmas:

• High Agency Fees: Migrant workers arrive in debt; going missing becomes the only way to repay debts ¹¹.
• Forced Labor and Deductions: The 2025 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report indicates that Taiwan still has cases of employers illegally withholding migrant workers' wages ¹².
• Improvement Trends: Although the cumulative number remains high, the number of new missing persons in 2025 has slowed, showing that investigation and prevention measures are gradually taking effect.

The Indian Migrant Worker Issue: "Conditional" Introduction in 2026

After the ROC-India MOU was signed in 2024, the controversy reached a new peak in April 2026. Facing pressure from petitions exceeding 40,000 signatures, Minister of Labor Hung Shen-han proposed "two prerequisites" for the introduction in the Legislative Yuan [^14]:

1. Enterprises must have a genuine need.
2. India's execution plan must meet our requirements and gatekeeping standards.

Hung Shen-han emphasized: "If these two principles are not met, there is no issue of introduction, nor is there a timeline." This cautious attitude is a response to the strong oversight by the opposition parties (Kuomintang caucus) — the opposition argues that "before the current system of 90,000 missing persons is improved, we oppose adding new source countries" ¹³.

📝 Curator's Note: The pendulum of policy swings between the "urgency of labor shortage" and "social cohesion," seeking the most difficult balance point.

Conclusion: Balancing Between Labor Shortage and Integration

In 2026, Taiwan faces the dual pressure of low birth rates and a broken labor force structure. Introducing Indian migrant workers and diversifying source countries is a necessary move to disperse risk. However, without resolving high agency fees, the black number of missing persons, and society's implicit racial biases, simply increasing "numbers" will only deepen contradictions.

How can Taiwan, while pursuing economic development, truly view migrant workers as "future citizens" rather than purely "supplementary labor"? This is not just a government task, but a common challenge for Taiwan's 23 million people.

Further Reading:

• Taiwan's COVID-19 Pandemic and Vaccines — The migrant worker quarantine order in Miaoli in June 2021 was an instance where this labor and living situation was pushed to the limit under the pandemic.
• Taiwan's Public Health and Epidemic Prevention System — The institutional background of integrating migrant workers into the public health and medical system.

References