The introduction of foreign labor has been a mixed blessing for Taiwanese society. While helping to provide temporary relief for the labor shortage, keeping the island's products competitive and easing pressure for firms to move offshore, the policy has also had unwelcome side-effects. Foreign labor has been blamed for undermining the local job market, putting a brake on the pace of industrial upgrading and triggering social problems.
引進外勞對台灣社會的影響正、反面都有，除了暫時紓解勞力短缺、維持台灣產品的競爭優勢、減緩產業外移壓力等優點之外，不少負面效應，如就業市場受到衝擊、延緩產業升級契機、社會問題等也逐漸出現。