As graduation season approaches, the impact of U.S. President Trump's heightened tariffs on industries is affecting youth employment. This has raised questions about whether to amend the Employment Service Act to include youth as a specific employment target.

Deputy Minister of Labor Lee Jian-hong stated, "The Executive Yuan has a cross-ministerial youth employment promotion program, currently in its 2.0 version, with corresponding support measures and plans for various types of unemployed youth already in place, showing some effectiveness." The Ministry of Labor indicated that if the Legislative Yuan proceeds with amendments, adjustments will be made accordingly, emphasizing the effectiveness of current subsidies for unemployed youth.

Civic groups argued that including youth as a specific employment target is certainly beneficial, but it may not be necessary to implement hiring incentives. Zhang Yu-meng, chairman of the Taiwan Youth Generations Alliance, remarked, "Indeed, the youth unemployment rate has been higher than the overall unemployment rate in recent years, and the Ministry of Labor should think of some strategies. Historically, policy revisions have largely relied on the initiative of regulatory authorities or social and legislative pressure to sustain or reassess related policies."

Cheng Zhong-rui, vice chairman of the Youth Labor Alliance, added, "Currently, many employment subsidies are already being implemented for youth employment. Overall, my stance is that youth employment definitely deserves policy assistance, but it does not necessarily need to be enshrined in law." The Youth Labor Alliance believes that there is concern about potentially marginalizing middle-aged groups that also need support, asserting that the issue of youth employment can be addressed without legislation, and discussions about providing unemployment benefits or hiring incentives are warranted.