銀髮世代的勞動挑戰兼評析「中高齡者及高齡者就業法」

Abstract

臺灣已面臨雙重人口海嘯──少子化及高齡化浪潮的兩面夾擊，鑑於在少子化趨勢難以逆轉的現實下，如何因應勞動人口之高齡化趨勢所帶來的諸多挑戰，必將繫於未雨綢繆的重大政策決定，因而「中高齡者及高齡者就業法」的立法即是為了協助中高齡及高齡者繼續就業或再就業，以滿足其多方面所需，無論是經濟安全、社會參與或精神滿足；同時發揮協助企業開始規劃、調適與有效運用中高齡及高齡勞動力等功能，以符應企業經營所需人力。本文檢視並回顧相關統計與文獻，發現中高齡及高齡者的勞動參與率之低，臺灣與其他發展成熟的國家相比幾乎是敬陪末座，這表示未來在中高齡及高齡勞動力的開發上，台灣仍存在著很大的進步空間。然而深入檢視相關文獻可發現，銀髮族群之所以有低度勞動參與率之情形，阻礙因素不外乎家庭照顧責任、自身健康不佳、職場友善度不足等，也因而立法草案在這三部分都有著力，但據以研擬因應措施的相關論述基礎實為不足，導致目前草案條文多數流於道德宣示，或過度依賴津貼及補助，而未能切中銀髮群族繼續就業及再就業的問題癥結，亦未能深入掌握企業在運用銀髮勞動人力時更迫切待解的挑戰。

Taiwan has faced a double-edge population tsunami: a collision between the declining birthrates and aging society. In view of the reality that the trend of declining birthrate is difficult to reverse, how to successfully deal with the challenges which were brought about by the aging population of labor force will surely depend upon precautionary policies. The legislation for Employment Law of Middle-Aged and Elderly People turns out not only to help middle-aged and elderly people continue to work or reemploy, in order to meet their various needs, whether it is economic security, social participation or spiritual satisfaction, but also assist enterprises in planning, adapting and effectively utilizing the functions of middle-aged and elderly people, and to meet the manpower requirements for business operations. Statistics and research show that labor market participation rate of middle-aged and elderly people is quite low, almost the lowest one compared with other well-developed countries, indicating that there is still room for improvements in the developments of labor force of middle-aged and elderly people in Taiwan. Research suggests that the low labor force participation is closely related to family care responsibility, poor health condition and lack of friendly workplace. Therefore, the paper focuses on these three points. However, relevant arguments for the redress measures have been insufficient, most of which being moral declarations, or excessively relying on subsidies, both proving unable to tackle the crux of continuing employment and reemployment of the silverhaired group. It also failed to gain a deeper understanding into the challenges faced by companies who are more eager to solve the problems when silver-haired workers are outnumbered in the workplace.