In order to encourage young students to engage in elderly care service and facilitate collaboration between elderly care service providers, schools, industry and academia, Ministry of Health and Welfare organized the “Talent Platform – New Future in Elderly Care” elderly care talent recruitment expo. The central Taiwan leg was held at Asia University today (16th), inviting over 80 elderly care service providers and students from related departments. According to Deputy Mayor I-ying Lin, besides promoting salaries for elderly care service and sending care givers overseas to pursue further studies, the City Government also provides incentives for graduates under the age of 29 (NT$ 10,000 for those who have worked for at least 3 months and NT$ 12,000 for work duration of at least 6 months), all young people are welcome to join the ranks of elderly care.

For today’s event, Social and Family Affairs Administration, MOHW Director Hui-Jiuan Chien, Social Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government Director Chien-te Lu and Asia University President Jeffrey J. P. Tsai put the pieces of the puzzle symbolizing industry-academia collaboration supported by government policies together, while MOHW Deputy Minister Pau-ching Lu and Deputy Mayor I-ying Lin placed Elderly Care 2.0’s logo on top as a symbol of joint efforts from the Central Government and local government in promoting the Elderly Care 2.0 policy.

According to MOHW Deputy Minister Lu, talent is the foundation for developing the elderly care industry in the future. Trial run for Elderly Care 2.0 program commenced in November last year, and President Ing-wen Tsai requested full cooperation from government agencies and the private sector. In the past, the 10-year elderly care plan involved middle aged and old women above the age of 50, and most of them are seeking reemployment or part-time employment. President Tsai wishes to improve the situation so that young blood can be injected into the elderly care profession, and young people can secure future employment after graduation through the job-matching function provided by the expo.

According to Deputy Minister Lu, in order to improve hiring conditions, MOHW has set an average starting salary of NT$ 32,000 for care givers, and the total figure is expected to reach NT$ 35,000 by incorporating other bonuses. Furthermore, more comprehensive promotion channels are provided to give care givers the opportunity to become leaders or “bosses” in various service organizations. There is an expected shortage of 5,000 to 12,000 care givers this year, thus it is hoped that collaborations between industry, government and academia will allow graduates of elderly care studies to start working as front line care givers. On the other hand, graduates of non elderly care related studies can also partake in government-organized vocational training courses, while the government will strive to build a complete system that provides young people with protection in terms of their remuneration, promotion and work environment.

Deputy Mayor Lin suggests that now is the perfect moment to develop elderly care service, because with a starting salary of NT$ 32,000, care givers are much better paid than other industries. Moreover, the City Government will cooperate with the Central Government to make sure all elderly care service providers remunerate employees with monthly salaries. Recently, the City Government will be conducting the diaper expert international beginners’ class to make changing diapers a professional, fulfilling job.

She also indicates that in order to retain outstanding talents, the City Government has requested service providers to recommend outstanding care givers, where 10 of them will be selected for further education in countries such as Japan. After returning to Taiwan, they will become care service instructors and international exchange talents. In addition, incentives are provided for graduates under the age of 29 (NT$ 10,000 for those who have worked for at least 3 months and NT$ 12,000 for work duration of at least 6 months), all young people are welcome to join the ranks of elderly care.

According to the Social Affairs Bureau, the talent recruitment expo combines the resources of the government, service providers and schools to create a platform that facilitates tripartite interaction and exchange. Besides inviting young care givers to share their experiences with the public, “home”, “community” and “institutional” elderly care service providers, as well as community holistic care service system (A-B-C) were also present to demonstrate various elderly care service tasks, so that the students can apply the knowledge to their work in the future. The aim is also to encourage young people to join the elderly care service providers.

Furthermore, care specialist from Taichung City Elderly Care Management Center was invited to demonstrate elderly care need assessment so that the public can gain more insight about elderly care service assessment and the formulation of care service plan. When someone in your family needs elderly care, you may call the elderly care hotline at 412-8080 (landline) or 02-412-8080 (cell phone), and our staff will provide you with elderly care related information.