◎ Zhang Houguang
The Ministry of National Defense recently released a latest report. In the face of the wave of declining birthrates and the continuous decline in volunteer recruitment in the past three years, it has launched "fourteen intensive measures" in a high-profile manner, including signing contracts with 548 high schools and colleges across the country, increasing recruitment bonuses, and even intensifying neighborhood publicity. However, upon careful examination of these fourteen actions, almost all of them focus on "development," "marketing," and "performance distribution," with little emphasis on the military system and career value that truly determine retention rates. This kind of using the "insurance salesman-style" KPI management thinking of the 20th century to deal with the national defense population crisis of the 21st century is completely treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.
The Ministry of National Defense stated in a written report that the national army has launched 14 measures in the hope of reducing manpower loss, including signing enrollment cooperation agreements with 116 universities and 432 high schools (vocational) schools across the country, increasing recruitment bonuses, and promoting volunteer salary increases. (File photo) The data released by the Ministry of National Defense reveals a serious logical imbalance: while one side admits that the number of recruits is declining year by year, the other side claims that the troop staffing ratio can still be maintained at 80%. With the number of men available for recruitment about to fall below the 80,000 mark, is this data boom achieved by lowering the establishment denominator, or is it supported by part-time replacements?
The declining birthrate is a structural test faced by all walks of life in Taiwan. While the technology industry, foreign businesses, and private companies all compete for talents with salary transparency, skill growth, and flexible careers, the military is hoping to "go to schools more to sign contracts, go to neighborhoods more often to issue announcements, and give recruiters target responsibilities." When a product's own service environment and future prospects lack substantial appeal, no matter how many students are invited to visit and no matter how many one-time recruitment bonuses are given, it will just trick young people into joining the army to "experience it once and then leave the camp faster." If the hole under the bucket is not repaired, no matter how high the faucet is, it will be in vain.
Reforms in defense pay and talent management should not be about favors from politicians or the merits of recruiters. Article 5 of the "Regulations on the Treatment of Military Personnel" revised and promulgated in 2025 has legalized voluntary service and established a price index (CPI) linked adjustment mechanism. This is the correct institutional direction. What the military should really do is to comprehensively establish a "defense talent treatment index", incorporate prices, similar civilian professional salaries and retirement rates into scientific and dynamic adjustments, and provide differentiated treatment for professionals with high training costs and high scarcity.
What is more critical is the integration of "salary, career and dignity." The modern military covers high-tech fields such as drone operation, aviation maintenance, information security protection and AI systems. The government should promote a national certification and transfer mechanism for military professions and civilian careers. Let young people know that joining the army is not a "waste of a few years", but rather entering a national talent school where the skills learned can be used for life.
Weapons can be purchased with a budget, but it is the people who remain who can exert their combat power. If the Ministry of National Defense is unwilling to face up to the fatal flaws in service experience and career development and continues to use fourteen official document-style marketing tactics to deceive the public, Taiwan's military will always face a vicious cycle of "recruiting dissatisfied and unable to retain".
Article 5 of the "Regulations on the Treatment of Military Personnel" revised and promulgated in 2025 has legalized voluntary service and established a price index (CPI) linked adjustment mechanism. (File photo, taken from Congress Channel) (The author works for Hanxiang Airlines)
