28 May 2025
Taiwan: Migrants employed in chip manufacturing to meet surging AI demand allege exploitation by brokers profiting from their recruitment; incl. cos. comments
Summary
Date Reported: 28 May 2025
Location: Taiwan
Companies
Champion Manpower Group - Labour SupplierOther
Not Reported ( Technology: Other ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Labour supplier ) - Labour SupplierAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Philippines , Manufacturing: General , Men , Unknown migration status )Issues
Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Access to InformationResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Champion does not engage in such practices as it “operates on a zero-fee policy,” its assistant manager said. He said individuals impersonate the company to scam workers.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 28 May 2025
Location: Taiwan
Other
Not Reported ( Technology: Other ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Labour supplier ) - Labour SupplierAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Philippines , Manufacturing: General , Women , Unknown migration status )Issues
Injuries , Denial of leave , Social Security , Freedom of ExpressionResponse
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 28 May 2025
Location: Taiwan
Other
Not Reported ( Technology: Other ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Labour supplier ) - Labour SupplierAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Philippines , Manufacturing: General , Gender not reported , Unknown migration status )Issues
Work & ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Action taken: The firm declined to comment.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 28 May 2025
Location: Taiwan
Other
Not Reported ( Technology: Other ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Labour supplier ) - Labour SupplierAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Philippines , Manufacturing: General , Gender not reported , Unknown migration status )Issues
Work & ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Action taken: The firm declined to comment.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 28 May 2025
Location: Taiwan
Other
Not Reported ( Technology: Electronics, Internet and telecom providers ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Labour supplier ) - Labour SupplierAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Philippines , Manufacturing: General , Men , Undocumented migrants )Issues
Failing to renew visas , Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or exileResponse
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
Getty Images for Unsplash
“Taiwan’s chip plants run on migrant workers. Job brokers run their lives”
… The brokers have incredible sway over the workers’ lives…Too often, brokers abuse this power…
Taiwan – the world’s dominant source of semiconductors – has recruited a record number of people from nearby nations to meet the surge in demand for chips for AI…
Many chip manufacturers now have lines almost entirely staffed by Filipinos…
Rest of World discussed the broker system with more than 20 Filipino semiconductor workers and industry experts…
A Filipino migrant chip worker and former resident at the Taichung shelter, who asked to be called Luis, said he had to flee a job packing chips after his broker squeezed him for money, including abnormally high electricity bills…
Champion Manpower Group, a top broker firm one worker complained about, said it doesn’t charge workers to help them find new jobs, and that if it discovered any brokers doing so, they would be fired…
Two other broker firms that workers complained about declined to comment.
Manpower Agencies Association, a broker industry association group, did not respond to requests for comment. The Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association declined to comment…
Not all brokers expect bribes, and it is illegal to demand them, said May Chen, a manager at May God Human Resources, a brokerage agency…