The Taipei City Government yesterday encouraged people to buy from the city’s sheltered workshops, which have suffered significant revenue losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, to support persons with disabilities.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang told a news conference at Taipei City Hall that there are 43 sheltered workshops in the city employing about 600 persons with disabilities, the most among the nation’s cities and counties, adding that the workshops provide a safe environment for them to learn job skills and become self-reliant.
The Taipei Department of Labor said that as the pandemic has changed many people’s lifestyles, such as staying at home rather than eating out or going shopping, sales at the workshops’ gas stations, souvenir shops and bakeries have dropped over the past few months.
As many people have postponed their weddings due to the pandemic, there were fewer orders for wedding cake gift boxes from the bakeries, while an increase in teleconferencing instead of holding meetings has resulted in fewer orders for lunchboxes, Huang said, adding that sales at 13 workshops dropped by more than 20 percent.
As several workshops are in hospitals, tightened controls on visitors over the past few months have dealt them a huge blow, the department said, adding that workshops’ revenue from January to March fell NT$8.92 million (US$297,036) from the same period last year.
As no new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Taiwan in the past several days, the department urged residents and businesses to support workers at sheltered workshops by purchasing their services or products.
