Economic recession and automation had decreased the need for sailors while raising the demand for highly skilled personnel. Wage increases also made ROC nationals more expensive to hire than their counterparts from the Philippines, Indonesia, and mainland China.
在這段期間，國際海運受到全球經濟不景氣及船舶自動化的影響，船員需求量銳減，但素質要求卻提高許多；同時我國國民平均所得大幅提高，工資無法再與菲律賓、印尼，甚至中國大陸的船員競爭，也只有往提高素質的方向走。