Thanks Ed, you’re right… placement fees do grab a chunk of their salary. Though I do know maids who earn NT$25,000/month, but maybe it depends on which family you go too. Thanks for that additional input.
Anlui, yes, I do share your sentiment. Hopefully, by meeting more educated Filipinos, people would correct their misconceptions of seeing our countrymen merely as menial labourers.
Mother Theresa, yes, I do think that theoretically, it’s harder for Filipinos to find work here legally because a lot of companies couldn’t be bothered with the extra expense of hiring someone AND going through the troublesome process of applying for a work permit for them. However, it does happen. For example, fellow Pinoy Gus works for a multinational corporation and is doing well. A lot of Filipinos I know do technical writing, while others are legally working in the restaurant industry as managers or teaching English (contrary to belief, a lot of Filipino’s English proficiency is quite high. Most people think I’m from California because of my English). Meanwhile, I used to work as a product marketing specialist for a global PC company, and will soon work as a corporate relationship manager for a top-brass equities company. And yes, I’m perfectly legal with an ARC, work permit, a health insurance card and non-crappy pay.
I can’t really speak for every Filipino out there, but maybe I’m just lucky. Finding jobs aren’t that difficult for me and there’s always English teaching as a fall-back position which pays very well. For my previous job, I applied straight out from a newspaper, went for an interview and in a week, was hired. As for my upcoming one, people saw how good I was at planning events and referred me.
So to answer your question, is it extremely difficult for Filipino/as to find good, legal employment here in Taiwan? I think ultimately, finding jobs depends on what you think you’re worth and what you’re capable of. For me, I’d be an awful manual laborer. I wouldn’t even pay me to be a maid. I can’t cook, clean, carry heavy boxes or have the patience to take care of kids. But I do know how to write adequately well, am relatively good with people and great at organiziing events… so I merely bank on these talents.
Specifically, how the heck did I get hired despite being a Filipino? Well, my previous employer had no clue about the university I graduated from so I couldn’t bank on its good reputation. However, they liked the writing and detail-orientedness in the sample articles I gave them so they hired me. Writing btw was the cornerstone of my previous job. With my upcoming job however, my Mandarin skills are adequate and I have the right personality, skills and interest to take on the job so they asked me onboard. Having the confidence and not settling for a menial job merely because you’re Filipino also helped a lot.
In addition, applying for a work permit isn’t that troublesome anyway if your company is willing to sponsor you. For example, as a Filipino, the only difference is my supporting documents (e.g., diploma, transcript, certificate of employment) had to be notarized by the Taiwan embassy back home, which is a long 1-month process, but as good people are hard to find, a lot of companies would go through that trouble just to get you in.
What’s more, Filipino/as come in with a sense of humility and willingness to learn, making us an asset to most bosses. But ultimately, I think getting hired mainly depends on whether you can do the job or not. When people have the confidence that you can get the job done, they don’t care if you’re Canadian, American, Australian, an alien, a monkey or Filipino, they’ll still hire you.
Hope this helps! 
