台灣原住民早期移居都市主要是從事基層的勞力工作,但近十幾年來深受產業外移、外勞引進和經濟蕭條等因素影響,使其工作機會嚴重流失。問題是,失業原住民的教育程度普遍低落,形成再就業困難重重。因而有許多原住民被迫返回原鄉尋求有限的生活機會。政府爲了解決原鄉就業問題,自1997年以後的就業政策開始規劃與原鄉在地產業發展相結合,以期藉由發展在地產業創造就業機會。但至今,信義鄉的在地產業發展極有限,工作機會嚴重不足,部落居民仍難安身立命,回鄉者更是窮困潦倒,即便政府推出一些短期就業措施也只能應付燃眉之急,況且在僧多粥少的情形下,許多弱勢原住民也只能苦苦等待工作機會。雖然原鄉地方產業被視爲解決部落所面臨各種困境的最佳政策處方,可是原鄉發展計畫和就業政策涉及政府各部門的相關業務和權責,在多頭馬車的情形下,往往導致原鄉發展政策無法落實或政策法令不符合實際需求,從而阻礙了原鄉產業的發展和就業機會的創造,未來政府各部門的權責和業務如何成功地整合,以及如何規劃適合原鄉的發展計畫、就業政策和教育投資計畫,實有待政府進行長遠的規劃和多方的努力。
The Taiwanese aboriginals who had early immigrated to the urban were mainly employed in the low-technique jobs. However, in the decades, the low-technique jobs are continually disappearing because of the industry emigration, the immigrant labor, and the economic slump. The low education and the poor human capital often impede the unemployed aboriginals from being immediately re-employed in the urban. Thus, more and more urban aboriginals are forced back to their home towns, looking for the limited life chances. Since 1997, for responding the unemployed aboriginals' return migration to their home towns, the government has already tried to accommodate the employment policies with the development of local industries in order to activate the local economy, to create the employment opportunities. But until now, the local industries in Xin-yi Country have been under-developed, and the employment problems have remained serious. Lack of employ opportunities not only lets the residents difficult to settle down in their home towns, but also makes the home-returned aboriginals deeply trapped into the poverty. Even though the government provides some short-term employment programs as the emergency solutions, it's unhelpful for aboriginals' employment. Although local industries in aboriginal home towns are considered as the best prescriptive policy to all the difficulties confronted by the aboriginal tribes, the development of aboriginal home towns and the employment policies are concerned with various administrative sectors and agencies within the government, and lacks of coordination and collaboration among different sectors and agencies prevent the aboriginal home town development planning from being true, and also results in the policy and legislation unmet with the real demands, blocking up the progress of local industries in aboriginal home towns, as well as the creation of employment opportunities. In the future, the coordination and collaboration of the different sectors and agencies within the government, and the accommodation of the employment policies and education investments with the aboriginal home town development planning both depend on the efforts and the visions of the government.