CHIAYI HAS THE MOST SENIOR WORKERS OVER 65|農村缺工嚴重 嘉縣年長工作比例冠全國

There are about 260 thousand people working in Chiayi County and about 18,000 of those employed are seniors over 65 years old. Though most of them expressed their enjoyment for working at this age, local farmer association worries that this will only worsen the problem of farm labor shortages. The man who is working at the field is Mr. Tseng, 81 years old. He works at farm field every day. And Mrs. Chen, 70 years old, is very skillful at what she is doing. Chiayi County is facing with serious outward migration, you can hardly see young people working at farm fields. The workforce population in Chiayi is 260,200 people, while 18,000 are seniors who are 65 or above. Chiayi County has the most senior workforce population in Taiwan. ==TSENG SHIH old farmer== I have been cultivating at this field by myself. (Why so?) An old farmer is doing it, children they don't want to care this field. ==CHEN HSIANG old farmer== At our age, working is regarded as exercise, it's healthful. Chiayi County Farmers' Association pointed out, although the government is trying to use migrant workers as temp workers, the speed is not fast enough to catch with reality. ==LIN YI-CHING Project Manager, Chiayi County Everlasting Development Assoc.== The oldest is at least 70 some years old. Basically, if he still can work, generally, he will go out to work and earn money. ==CHIU YAO-JUI Chairman, Chiayi County Farmers' Assoc.== Many companies have no worker to hire, not only to our agriculture business, some young people like to work at places with air conditioning. Many counties are facing workforce shortage, seniors are becoming one of the hiring options. It is becoming more obvious that working age is increasing in some agricultural cities and counties. TRANSLATED BY: ANTHONY LIN 以農業為主的嘉義縣，全縣26萬多就業人口，就有1萬8千人是65歲以上年長者，全國之冠，老人家雖然樂觀，認為能工作養活自己，沒甚麼不好，但缺工是農業發展的結構問題，讓在地農會相當憂心。 拿著鋤頭來到田裡鋤草，這位曾阿伯已經81歲，還是天天下田耕作，還有這名陳香女士，今年70歲，從事農務還是相當順手。在嘉義縣，農田裡想要看到年輕人相當困難，因為人口外移嚴重。根據統計，全縣就業人口26萬2千人，就有1萬8千人是65歲以上長者，年長者工作的比例占全國之冠。 ==嘉義老農 曾時== 這田都我自己耕作 （為什麼)就老人家在耕作呀 孩子又不管這些 ==嘉義老農 陳香== 我們這個年紀喔 有工作是認為說好像是運動 身體比較健康 嘉義縣農會憂心表示，雖然政府推移工派遣試驗等政策因應，但目前速度跟不上現實需求。 ==嘉縣鄉村永續發展協會專案管理 林宜靖== 年紀最長的(至少)70幾歲 那基本上 只要(長輩)他能做 他基本上就是往外跑 去賺錢 ==嘉義縣農會理事長 邱耀瑞== 現在很多公司也找不到工人 不是只有我們農業方面 （有些)年輕人他喜歡有冷氣 空調 這些工作場所做 不只耕作者年齡增加，在人力不足的縣市裡，年長者也成為聘僱人力，勞動年齡攀升的趨勢，在以農業為主的縣市，未來恐怕會越來越明顯。 記者 王柔婷 許政俊 嘉義報導