Vietnamese workers in Taiwan want direct hiring, bypassing brokers

More than 20 workers gathered in front of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office (VECO) Sunday to call for a direct hiring scheme to replace the current brokerage system.

One worker said the required brokerage fees to go to Taiwan for work is $4,000, and could be higher in some cases.

The workers wanted brokerage fees to be lowered in the future and laws to regulate "unscrupulous manpower agencies."

Besides the brokerage fees, which are several times their monthly income, Vietnamese workers in Taiwan also have to pay for passports, medical checkups and deposits to ensure they will not run away from employers, said Chuang Shu-ching, a social worker at the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Immigrants Office.

Taiwan has become a sought after destination for Vietnamese seeking jobs overseas ever since it lifted a 10-year ban on certain categories of Vietnamese workers in 2015.

Vietnamese workers in the territory can earn $700 - $800 a month, three or four times the typical remuneration in Vietnam.

Last year, 65,000 Vietnamese workers were sent to Taiwan, accounting for nearly half of Vietnam's overseas workforce.