Lai, Hsiang-Ling, Chief Policy Officer of TPP Policy Research and Strategy Department

On May 1st, the International Workers’ Day, labor groups in Taiwan took to the streets to demand better working conditions. The demands include reduced working hours, higher wages, protections against workplace bullying, and the right for police and firefighters to unionize. All of these demands reflect deep concerns about unsafe working environments and the urgent need to strengthen social security. Among them, one less familiar but increasingly pressing demand stood out: a call for a Just Transition.

As we enter an era of AI-driven management and pursue net-zero carbon emissions, global industry structures are being reshaped. Industries are being pushed toward green energy and digital transformation. International labor movements have long advocated for a just transition, which calls for a new social contract alliance in response to these major developments. The question arises: Are Taiwan’s government, labor, and employers prepared for this challenge?

As various sectors begin adopting AI for performance management and rapid market strategy adjustments, AI systems now use algorithms to schedule manpower and measure performance. These systems have become widespread in industries such as logistics, retail, and manufacturing. Consequently, workplace human resource management is increasingly driven by sensors and receivers, quantifying worker behavior into data, fragmenting working hours, and tying output efficiency to algorithmic control. Interpersonal interaction and dialogue in the workplace are no longer the norm. Meanwhile, the global target of net-zero emissions by 2050 is driving countries to transition their energy systems and adjust production lines, which has led to skill mismatches and displacement, with workers facing pay cuts, reassignments, or layoffs. The hardest hit are employees in high-carbon and labor-intensive sectors such as steel, petrochemicals, and transportation.

The core of the New Social Contract Alliance is to ensure that unions and all social sectors understand the real impacts of the net-zero shift on workers, prompting union action to negotiate or demand corporate disclosure of transition plans. However, in the case of AI, inadequate government regulation has allowed algorithmic management to strip workers of their rights to communicate, appeal, or challenge unfair practices. This crisis of asymmetric labor relations where “technology outpaces regulation” not only undermines labor protections but also erodes the foundation of social trust.

True transformation cannot focus solely on economic gains; it must also uphold social justice. Taiwan urgently needs to advance Just Transition policies that grant unions and workers meaningful participation in AI integration and net-zero adjustments. The government should mandate collective bargaining, enforce transparency in corporate disclosures, and establish a transformation skills development fund to support worker retraining and job transitions. At the same time, vulnerable workers in atypical employment, such as dispatched or migrant workers, require a cross-departmental social safety net and a robust legal protection system.

Only by implementing the core belief that “transformation must not sacrifice labor” can Taiwan truly achieve sustainability and shared prosperity amid technological and environmental challenges.