Unemployed graduate finds career anchor through government employment program

Ah-liang, a 26-year-old from Douliu, Yunlin, struggled with career uncertainty for years after graduating from university. He initially took on freelance illustration work for virtual characters, but the inconsistent income and lack of a stable career path led him to seek help from the Douliu Employment Center.

He first applied for the "Youth Employment Support Program," which provided him with a monthly subsidy of 5,000 NT dollars while he searched for work. He briefly worked as a mechanical repairman but left within a month, finding the factory environment challenging. This setback led him back to freelance work for over six months.

Encouraged by friends, family, and employment service officers, Ah-liang decided to try again. He applied for the "Youth Employment Incentive Program." This time, through various assessment tools, his work aptitude and strengths were identified, leading to his successful placement as a warehouse manager. He has been stably employed for over four months and has received a 30,000 NT dollar employment incentive.

Liu Bang-dong, director of the Yun-Chia-Nan Branch of the Workforce Development Agency, highlighted that both the "Youth Employment Support Program" and the "Youth Employment Incentive Program" are designed to assist unemployed youth. The former targets young individuals who have been out of school and work for over 60 consecutive days and are seeking their first job, offering up to 18,000 NT dollars in job-seeking subsidies. The latter assists those who have been unemployed for over six consecutive months. Both programs offer employment incentive payments of up to 30,000 NT dollars for stable employment.

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I have found my career anchor point and am no longer lost.