A Study On The Sustainable Development of Long-Term Care Workforce In Taiwan: An Analysis of Long-Term Care Workers and Foreign Social Welfare Migrant Workers

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Keywords: DEA, Long-term Care Manpower, Long-term Care Workers, Foreign Social Welfare Migrant Workers

Abstract: Taiwan officially entered an aging society in 2018, with intensifying population aging and a shortage of nursing manpower. In recent years, the gap in nursing manpower has been addressed through the government's promotion of Long-term Care 2.0 initiatives and the cultivation of long-term care personnel. With a deficiency in long-term caregiving manpower, Taiwan has predominantly relied on foreign social welfare migrant workers for primary caregiving tasks. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the entry of these foreign workers into Taiwan for caregiving was temporarily halted, leading to unclear efficiency levels in long-term care across various counties and cities. This study introduces a performance evaluation model from production economics to explore the efficiency of long-term caregiving manpower across different counties and cities. Our findings indicate that, considering the number of nursing home staff and care service workers, the best efficiency scores for new admissions in nursing homes were achieved in Taipei City, Yilan County, Miaoli County, Hualien County, and Chiayi City. In terms of existing occupancy, New Taipei City showed an overall technical efficiency of 0.568, with an optimal efficiency score of 1 in the new admissions category. Similarly, Taoyuan City and Penghu County reached optimal efficiency scores of 1 in new admissions, with overall technical efficiencies of 0.629 and 0.846, respectively. These findings suggest that these counties and cities have reached saturation in terms of occupancy, leaving no room for adjustment. However, there is still potential for adjustment in the number of foreign social welfare workers and new admissions. While there is room to adjust the number of social welfare migrant workers, it is recommended to prioritize the employment of local long-term care workers to protect the rights and interests of native labor. Relying solely on the introduction of foreign social welfare workers can marginalize the job rights of local long-term care workers. By considering the number of local long-term care workers and nurses, and assessing the number of foreign social welfare migrant workers, this study can further inform government decisions regarding the introduction of foreign social welfare workers from Southeast Asian countries. Keywords: Dynamic DEA, Long-term Care Manpower, Long-term Care Workers, Foreign Social Welfare Migrant Workers