One trend along those lines is people dumping millions into renovating a store, running it with no customers for a year or more, running out of money and leaving, place remains vacant for a few months.
Another guy with more money than brains rents it again, guts everything spending millions of nt getting it ready again, rince and repeat but the sign in the windows says now hiring $120/he
I always wonderâŠthey truly spend making the place fancy to their visionâŠthen start cutting corners, especially when it comes to workers. If it was only the Taiwanese I get it, they fear training people as they could become their competitors but foreigners do this too. They hire illegally, like students or laborers on the run. I know regulations are a b@$&*# but seriously?!
Said it once, said it again: some is really wrong with a business model when it calls for restaurant owners to use vegetables that have been thrown in the dump. Or expired sauces.
Did you guys see the recent news about a Thai restaurant that was ârecyclingâ the rice patrons left uneaten? Boss went on tv to say it was ok as the ones eating it were the employees.
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Youâre right - you have the option not to join a pyramid scheme. A government uses force.
My general opinion about economic macro environment after almost 30 year association with this countryâŠ
Government encourages small companies by limited tax collection from small companies. Many companies do not pay tax and if caught cheating still only pay portion of what is actually owed. Large percentage of small companies not paying properly into employee retirement system while avoiding other taxes. These same small companies offer little training, employment stability, etcâŠin general not much overall contribution to Taiwanâs overall economy except to keep many people employed (at the bare minimum salary).
Large companies bear the brunt of taxes. Not all of these companies are making huge profits but pay full amount of taxes with no special breaks from government.
Of course, there are many other factors but in this environment most employees are not seeing upward mobility. I am a fan of a larger proportion of larger companies which at least offer some training and exposure to more skill sets meaning employees become more employable beyond their current job. And just maybe some of those companies can become internal respected companies offering even more opportunities to employees.
And of course, the constant corruption. Earlier I mention the company not paying employeesâ pension money. That same company pays a bribe/kickback monthly to high ranking military officer. The corruption in Taiwan holds back true efficiency and related company improvements.
I cannot imagine what Taiwan would be like now if so many Taiwanese were not in China. Some look at this as bad for Taiwan while I see China as a money lifeline keeping Taiwan going.
Meanwhile, much of the younger general is living off their parents and spending every dollar they make at an alarming rate. New cars, new flats, several overseas trips per year, almost weekly road trips, W hotel level dinners every week, new cellphone every year, etc. If the older general needs the younger generation to support themâŠthe old folks here are in big trouble.
WhoaâŠsorry for the long speechâŠ
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Large companies in Taiwan do not pay taxes. The government is afraid of them leaving the Island if it applies law strictly to them. I know a certain chemical corporation does not deduct or file taxes for its employees. They bear the brunt of taxes and are left with no laobao . Same one flaunts environmental laws.
The moneymaking is not from China to Taiwan, but China to Cayman Islands and Panama and other tax havens.
The W crowd is making a killing in drug trade and such. No pain there.
Sorry to disagree. The large companies I worked for in Taiwan paid large sums of taxes. I recently read about TSMC and Hon Haiâs high rate of contribution to overall tax collection in Taiwan. I do not have any statistical figures but bet that the percentage of large companies paying taxes is much more than small to medium size companies.
My wifeâs brother simply yelled at a tax auditor once which was enough for his company to enjoy another two more years tax free until another auditor arrived. My sister-in-lawâs company constantly cheats on taxes and when caught ends up only paying about 30% of what auditor assessed they should pay (every year tax office just asks for partial payment. Of course, the tax office does not realize they only saw the second set of books so the actual amount owed is probably double what the auditor assessed.
However, there is also small company harassment by tax officials as well. A friend owns a restaurant which is visited early every year by tax auditor who requests a very high prepayment of tax. The auditor hints that if not paid he may have trouble with his business license.
Just as aside the local governments operate with different levels of rigour when it comes to tax collection, when I had a company in Taichung we were hassled all the time, in Taipei no bother at all.
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Even more depressing numbers: poverty in seniors leading to suicide.
Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Taiwan reported 976 suicides among senior citizens in 2016, accounting for about 25 percent of the total suicides in that year, according to statistics released Friday by the Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center (TSPC).
Suicides among people aged 65 and over in Taiwan in 2016 accounted for 25.9 percent of the total suicides that year, representing an increase of 8.8 percent from 2015, TSPC Chief Executive Officer Liao Shih-cheng (ć»ćŁ«çš) said at a news conference.
Meanwhile, it is estimated that senior citizens in Taiwan will have a suicide rate of 32.3 per 100,000 people in 2017, compared with an average rate of 16 per 100,000 among people in all age groups, the centerâs statistics show.
Liao attributed the relatively higher suicide rate among seniors to factors such as having a strong desire to die, living alone and having an illness that makes it harder to survive a suicide attempt.
Commenting on the statistics, Chen Li-chung (諶ç«äž), director-general of the Department of Mental and Oral Health under the Minister of Health and Welfare, said that senior citizens are likely to attempt suicide because of poor health, loneliness, poverty and lack of a social life.
Iâm an over 50 engineer and am unemployable in Taiwan and the US and itâs not due to being obsolete or senile. I have a smoking, broad, up-to-date resume, including solid bilingual skills. Long story short itâs purely due to being over 50. Fortunately I donât need to work or Iâd be plucked.
I spend my time designing, manufacturing, and successfully marketing my own products and am starting a second business which is my real passion project: PilotedRobots
(ps: retirement is for pussies)
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The shortage will be in the low skill sector, not high tech.
Felame labor participation rate drops off the cliff after 45 or so in Taiwan. People retire VERY early, especially women.
Yeah which is why I said what really needs to change is their lack of desire to work.
Itâs difficult to force people to work if the neither want or need to.
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Just a bit of reeducation should do it, something to remind than how lucky they are to have houses and shoes.
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Not all old people are rich so there are many who need to work.
Imagine if they had started retirement accounts, or otherwise participated more fully in the system. A woman my age, at least, took my order at McDonalds tonight. If she is doing it to keep busy, fine. If not, ouch.
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When I worked at Walmart almost all greeters were over 70. They didnât need the money but needed to get out of the house.
Itâs probably ouch. Taiwan effectively had no retirement system until 2005 if you worked for a private employer unless it was an SOE or one of the few big companies. And there were no retirement accounts in the sense of accounts that you get tax incentives etc and employers match etc. You had to do it all on your own. In contrast, people who worked for the state in its many forms had excellent retirement systems.
But there are indeed older people who are working to keep busy. This 70 year-old retired civil servant works in one of those big buffet chains in Banqiao. She says there are 12 other employees her age.
Taiwanâs labor force participation rate for people 55-64 is lower than Greeceâs!
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Thatâs why Iâm a big fan of investing and being geopolitically aware.
I had no idea. I know in Korea, youâre basically forced to retire after 55, especially if you work for a chaebol. I guess in Taiwan theyâre leaving voluntarily. I see fairly young retirees hiking and at the pool, but I thought they were the exception.
Yeah true , it can be done , as I did but a bit challenging in regards to getting hired.