Demographic decline and migrant workers in Taiwan: Social entrepreneurship enacting cultural change

In recent years, Taiwan has faced many demographic changes that significantly impacted the society and the economy. These demographic changes have attracted the attention of many Taiwanese social enterprises, sometimes in alliances with others in the private and public sectors. Their primary concern is to ensure that the intended social benefits of their collaborations are positive, meaningful, and most importantly, sustainable. This chapter first provides an overview of social enterprises and recent demographic changes in Taiwan. Second, it presents a case study on how one notable Taiwanese social enterprise strengthens its social impact by forming alliances with organizations from the private and public sectors to enhance the relationship between Southeast Asian migrant workers and the general Taiwanese pubic. The Confucian concept of “ren” suggests that the foundation of social order is to love others, and the case study illustrates this concept in practice. Thirdly, the chapter introduces a theoretical framework for creating sustainable social impacts. Drawing on the case study, it illustrates how strategic alliances between social enterprises and private sector organizations are able to produce sustainable results for migrant workers and the general public in Taiwan. It is hoped that this opens up new avenues for further research.