To alleviate unemployment in the quake zone, in October 2000 the Council of Labor Affairs announced a plan to establish a "Disaster Area Reconstruction Corps," to which it allocated NT $ 2.8 billion to create 20,000 jobs, and early this year it also instituted an "Employment Hope Engineering" scheme, under which township governments can apply for funding for community service or business restructuring programs.
而為紓緩重建區的失業問題，行政院勞委會更在八十九年十月訂定「建立災區重建大軍方案」，投入二十八億元經費，創造兩萬個工作機會。今年初又開辦「就業希望工程」，由各鄉鎮就環境生態、社區服務或產業轉型提出自力更生計畫案。