It happens that there are expats but it’s really rare now like Hokk said (I work in right in the middle of Taipei’s CBD and sometimes go a whole day without seeing a single westerner as an example), and the problem is well outlined by last poster. I don’t make massive bucks but I face a similar situation at the moment in our office, even though I’m not part of the local team. I suspect something similar happened in another company I worked in, so I always have to watch my back, it’s pretty messed up working in Taiwan! Singapore and HK etc are totally different as the locals just get paid the same.
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I can only speak to my experience and the people I spoke to a few weeks ago. But when I spoke to the large companies here, they couldn’t bring in expats with “just a high salary” because that would undermine their entire system of compensation and create insane jealousy. [/quote]
Tell me bout it… this caused absolute hell to break loose in my previous company… Expectations of me also broke loose and shot skyward though.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for any manager or anyone who’s sold their soul and last 10 years to the company. Better to negotiate a higher commission sometimes and try to shoot the lights out with blistering performance (although some companies will find every way not to pay it to you).
I can only speak to my experience and the people I spoke to a few weeks ago. But when I spoke to the large companies here, they couldn’t bring in expats with “just a high salary” because that would undermine their entire system of compensation and create insane jealousy. You would be brought in as a random high level or whatever, which would pay well for Taiwan but nonetheless a Taiwanese salary so your counterparts think you get paid a solid, but not ridiculous salary. Say that ends up being 30,000 US a year. But then they write into your contract a special consideration bonus of one year salary at the middle of each year, which makes it 60,000 US, and then you can get options and profit sharing with a minimum guarantee of one years salary as well, ending up at 90k (at least), then you get year end bonuses with another half years salary bringing you up to 105k, then they cover your housing and transportation costs, bringing the value up to 110k, education for kids (if any), vacation/travel stipends, and so forth and so on. So a normal month would only have a Taiwanese salary of like 80kNT or something, but then a few times a year you get a massive influx of 1M NT. The Taiwanese counterparts, so long as you and HR keep quiet, dont’ know anything about the “expat package.”[/quote]
HR Departments in Taiwan are not quiet though, in my experience anyway. I guess it does not matter if you make 50k or 250 k per month, your Taiwanese co-workers are going to be resentful. Just have to grin and bear it. Even when I was studying in Taiwan, local students complained about everything from foreign students getting scholarships to getting extra attention from professors. Living in Taiwan can be awesome, but working is rarely better than average.