The Special Hiring Program for Taiwan
The Special Hiring Program for Taiwan (SHPT) was implemented in 1999 pursuant to
the existing Memorandum of Understanding between the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Office (TECO) and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) to respond to Taiwan’s
high demand for labor and as an intervention mechanism to control the exorbitant
placement fees prevailing in this labor market. The special hiring facility allows
Taiwanese employers to directly hire Filipinos without the participation of Taiwan
manpower agencies and Philippine licensed manpower agencies.
The SHPT is lodged at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) which
is the central authority under the Department of Labor and Employment tasked to
manage the migration of Filipino workers. It administers a host of services to promote
and facilitate the employment of qualified Filipino manpower in many parts of the
globe. The Government Placement Branch (GPB) as the in-house placement facility
of the POEA, handles the operational concerns of the SHPT.
The SHPT shall include services for corporate and individual employers for the recruitment
and deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the following categories:
- Industrial or Factory workers
- Construction workers
- Direct-hires or re-hired household workers
- Re-hired fishermen