On the Reform of the Government Contract Staff System in Taiwan: An Investigation of the Practice of Local Governments*
Bennis Wai-Yip So**
Abstract
This study attempts to respond to some lasting concern about the reform of government contract staff system and to propose some policy suggestions through an empirical research on the management of contract staff in three local governments in Taiwan (Kaohsiung City, Taichung City and Hualian County). The research finds that the contract staff plays the role of a stable workforce in the frontline of government agencies. They are not simply a temporary and supplementary workforce. In accordance with the in-depth interviews with the officers-in-charges in the government agencies as well as a questionnaire survey with civil servants and contract staff, it is found that the popular concern among specialists and scholars is not justifiable. This study argues that the reforms proposed by the new version of the draft ordinance for regulating contract personnel are too conservative; and that the reforms should take account of the career development of the workforce as well as its comparative advantage against the career civil servants, making better use of this kind of contract workforce to enhance the performance of government agencies.
Keywords: contract staff, flexibilization, personnel ordinance for regulating contract staff, local government
*This paper is derived from a research project sponsored by the National Science Council (NSC 97-2410-H-004-167-MY2).
**Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, National Chengchi University.