Precarious Work in Taiwan: A Profile

This article examines nonstandard or precarious workers in Taiwan since 2000. It traces the origin of nonstandard work back to increasing pressures faced by business in global competition and financial crises. Its emergence was also accompanied by the decline of the traditional informal labor sector and the increase of unemployment. It is argued that the issue of precarious work can mainly be explained by the rise of the "informalization" of employment among the formerly employed. The three types of the nonstandard work and dispatched work are discussed, along with specific case studies. Reactions from labor movements and social critics to the alarming problems facing precarious dispatched workers have finally caught the attention of the government. The concluding section assesses the policy responses to the growth of precarious work.