Opinion Piece: Structural Imbalances Behind Well-Intentioned Policies – Examining the Military's 'Silence' and Long-Term Retention Challenges from Teachers' Pushback

The Executive Yuan recently approved a new parental leave policy, ostensibly expanding the eligibility age to 6 years and enhancing subsidies (e.g., the 6+3 model), aiming to create a more family-friendly environment. However, this seemingly considerate policy has triggered strong backlash across different occupational groups in practice.

Multiple teacher associations have jointly criticized the new system as "visible but unattainable" and proposed three legislative reforms. In contrast, the military, operating under even stricter institutional conditions, remains collectively silent due to its unique organizational structure. The author argues that, in the long run, this silence could become an invisible landmine undermining military personnel retention and recruitment outcomes.

The Real Challenges Behind the Policy's Good Intentions

Despite the education system having a legally mandated "substitute teacher" system, teacher groups remain deeply dissatisfied with the new policy. The core reasons lie in three practical challenges:

First, it is difficult to find substitutes for specialized subjects. Schools, especially in remote areas or for niche subjects, already struggle to recruit substitute teachers. Extending and increasing the frequency of leave further destabilizes class scheduling and teaching quality.

Second, administrative and homeroom duties spill over. Substitute teachers are often unwilling or unable to handle heavy administrative or homeroom responsibilities, leading these burdens to be shifted onto other full-time teachers within the school.

Third, the labor rights of substitutes themselves are at risk. When substitute teachers also qualify for parental leave, schools face a cascading 'substitute for the substitute' human resource vacuum.

This explains why, despite having legal access to replacement staff, teacher groups still perceive inadequate support and have mobilized collectively to demand better provisions.

In contrast, military personnel, when facing the same policy, encounter even greater difficulties due to their profession's unique constraints:

Legal Restrictions on Voice: Current laws prohibit military personnel from forming unions or associations. Moreover, as part of the administrative system, the Ministry of National Defense must fully comply with and implement the Executive Yuan's policy. Under the dual constraints of "military obedience as duty" and the lack of collective bargaining rights, no legal body can voice concerns or advocate for equitable support measures regarding parental leave and welfare disparities.

Non-Outsourcable Military Core and 'Zero-Sum' Labor Transfer: The military emphasizes physical staffing, readiness, and 24/7 shift rotations. Unlike public or educational institutions, military personnel cannot hire external contract or civilian substitutes. When someone takes multi-year parental leave, their position is frozen. This means that all their original duties—command responsibilities, exercises, base training, duty shifts, and guard posts—are fully transferred to fellow unit members in a one-way labor burden.

Meager Allowances Exacerbate a Sense of Exploitation: Personnel left behind to cover duties receive minimal compensation—only a 150 NTD meal allowance per meal or a 100 NTD night snack allowance for over four consecutive hours of night duty—under a system lacking overtime pay. This grossly unequal compensation, especially after extending leave periods, leads to infinite exploitation of time and energy among留守 personnel, creating serious invisible tensions within units.

Military Grassroots Cannot Speak Out—Systemic Barriers Accelerate Talent Drain

Teacher dissatisfaction can be addressed through public discourse and legislative advocacy. But the military's silence does not mean the problem is absent; it transforms into passive, silent resistance. Thus, when a policy touted as a 'benefit' results in 'those on leave facing performance penalties and guilt toward comrades, while those staying endure overwork and a sense of deprivation' due to lack of support, the long-term consequences directly impact the military's core combat effectiveness:

Loss of Talented Personnel: Facing dual pressures of family childcare needs and unit burden, grassroots personnel often choose early discharge and return to civilian jobs, becoming a structural cause of poor long-term retention.

Severe Impact on Recruitment: When younger generations see military overwork without fair compensation, and family-friendly policies that are practically unworkable or even cause internal burnout, their willingness to enlist plummets, worsening the already tight 'establishment-to-actual strength ratio'.

The government's extension of parental leave stems from a well-meaning desire to support the next generation. However, if it only pursues superficial 'equal treatment for military, public, and education sectors' while ignoring the military's fundamental differences—'inability to hire external substitutes,' 'no overtime pay system,' and 'inability of grassroots to collectively voice concerns'—this well-intentioned policy may appear even harsher to military personnel than teachers' 'visible but unattainable' critique. While aiming to solve the 'national security crisis of low birthrate,' it may trigger another 'organizational crisis of talent loss'—a systemic dilemma forcing military personnel to suffer between family, comrades, and duty, ultimately accelerating talent drain.

The author urges the Ministry of National Defense to stand firmly on the side of grassroots personnel, simultaneously considering 'the childcare rights of those on leave' and 'the labor dignity of those staying behind,' and to firmly advocate for the military's unique needs in high-level decision-making forums. Only then can this family-friendly policy truly take root in military units, prevent talent loss, and safeguard the military's core strength and dignity amid the tide of declining birthrates.

*The author is a doctoral student and public servant.