I’m looking for some advice from some expats here that might be able to give me some insight from their own experience coming to Taiwan.
I’m a former IT professional (US) that applied for a Gold Card back in 2021. I had already been a digital nomad, but the work eventually burned me out and took the joy out of travelling for me. So, I decided to take some time off for myself, to explore without obligations, and to learn foreign languages.
Taiwan at the time had shut it’s borders and stopped all visa applications due to the pandemic, so I ended up spending the last two years in France instead. Fast forward two years (and French certified), I need to get back to the workforce, but I’m dreading the thought of going back to the 9-5 without at least some kind of international exposure involved.
So then, I receive a notice about the soon-expiration of my Gold Card application. Since, I had already paid for it, I decided to finish up the process and make a trip to Taiwan to go pick it up, as well as to get an idea of what it would be like there. Needless to say, I’m kind of hooked on the idea now, and I want to give my best, realistic effort on starting up again in Taiwan. A primary goal for me is to advance my Chinese and reconnect with my Taiwanese roots, but not without re-establishing myself professionnally first.
With a handful of still-active IT certifications and a mid/senior level of experience, I see four options, but none without some sort of drawback:
Re-apply for US companies as an IT professionnal once again working remotely.
This is kind of what I have to do anyway - were I to take Taiwan out of the picture. But, the problem here is the time difference (13h) and finding an employer okay with this practice. Assuming I can find one, I’ve worked opposite hours before and it was not pleasant.
Are there any of you who do this? How do you maintain a healthy lifestyle?
Work as a US-based contractor, but physically in Taiwan.
After combing the forums, this appears pretty common among Gold Card holders. I’m open to the idea, however, I imagine that those who have already made it here have already spent years setting up a stable client base before deciding to move to Taiwan. Whereas for me, I’m wondering how much time I would need to set up before making the leap. I could lean on my old contacts in the industry, but I couldn’t say how far that will take me, being inexperienced building client relationships on my own.
If you’re in this situation, am I getting a right read on the trajectory here? I just want to make sure I understand the reality of this decision, in which case it would be less about Taiwan and more about being a contractor.
Work as a Taiwan-based contractor.
Given that I haven’t done this in my home country, I can only imagine it would be harder in Taiwan. Or, maybe I’m being too pessimistic?
Finding work for a Taiwanese company.
Maybe someone can inform me otherwise, but the pay and work culture is not very appealing at all. That being said, is the next logical conclusion something along the lines of: “if this is something that I want, I have to be willing to make the sacrifice”? If that were the case, I guess I would need to reconsider how much this would mean to me.
Thanks for your time. I’m just trying to build a flowchart in my head about what the next steps would be to make this work (or not), and any advice from your perspective would really help me know what I’m getting myself into.
I’m not a flowchart kind of guy and if you are, Taiwan might not be for you.
In general. the people who do the best in Taiwan are those who create their own businesses or niches here. So my view is that you would be best off if you could start your own IT business or consult using your skills if there is a market here.
Working remotely for a foreign employer makes a lot of sense too if you can avoid ‘opposite hours’.
You probably want to avoid working for a Taiwanese employer because of the low pay and other quite unfavorable factors. But there are exceptions. I’m pretty happy with my Taiwanese employer.
If a primary goal is to focus on your Chinese, why not do just that for the first year or two? Enroll at one of the many Mandarin Training Centers around Taiwan, study seriously, and pick up odd gigs in your field as you have time. By the time you are done studying Chinese, you should be able to develop your own business/niche.
Choose a Mandarin Training Center based on location. They are all the same otherwise. I would personally choose one in a smaller, slower cheaper place like Hualien, Chiayi, or Pingtung. YMMV.
It’s going to suck working opposite hours for the US. You know that already. I have stress in my job but my current blessing is no late calls with the US.
I would suggest you find clients based in Asia or Europe. I know quite a few people who do this in different industries. I suggest Europe just due to the hours being easier to handle and plenty of Europeans and European countries are running businesses here too. You could connect with them mostly in our late afternoon time.
As an example.
There is one IT guy I know in another country in Asia (and he has moved a couple of times in Asia over the years but not a digital nomad) who does AI integration for small companies in Asia , often run by foreigners themselves , with support from his team in India. This kind of consultancy pays well and let’s you work normal hours . And you get to see your clients face to face sometimes and also employees and coworkers. It’s not only about the money but also the enjoyment of your work.
Who do you relate to the most, maybe other Asian Americans ? Other expats ? Build up a small consultancy for the group you can connect with the easiest. You should know the hot areas at the moment or you may already have a niche area you can add value in be it finance or pharma or data analysis etc.
The point is that you are leveraging Taiwan’s comparative advantage of relatively low costs, low wages, and well-educated and hardworking workforce to provide international customers throughout the region. You provide the technical expertise and knowledge of the industry that creates services that can command higher prices/rates then they would in Taiwan.
A small but increasing number of foreign companies are implementing variations of this business model quite successfully.
There are quite a lot of foreign entrepreneurs dotted around Taiwan, HK, Thailand etc and if you can hook in with these people that is a good approach for some.
They tend to work on manufacturing goods (ODM) for overseas markets but not only that. Thailand has a relatively big number now and very diverse there. Taiwan I’m a bit out of the loop but the gold card network could get you meeting interesting people.
Attending trade shows of the relevant industry you target is another way.
I’m not a flowchart kind of guy and if you are, Taiwan might not be for you.
Haha, okay. I suppose I’m too process-oriented, but I’m willing to adapt!
But there are exceptions. I’m pretty happy with my Taiwanese employer.
Were you able to secure this position before coming to Taiwan? Or did you navigate the job market afterwards?
If a primary goal is to focus on your Chinese, why not do just that for the first year or two? Enroll at one of the many Mandarin Training Centers around Taiwan […]
I had originally taken this off the table because, if I’ve learned anything from my experience with French, focusing on the language alone doesn’t translate well to professional opportunities.
(That may also have something to do with France and wouldn’t be the case with Taiwan. I’m not sure.)
However, it makes more sense the way you described it: develop professionally on the side, in an affordable way, with a business goal in the end.
Thank you for the example. It sounds like I would need to find a niche, build a network, focus on companies in the region or Europe/Asia hours.
That gives me a lot to do: finding the right people to connect with, where I can add value. My expertise is in software infrastructure and automation.
My question is, however, how important is it to start all that physically in Taiwan, as opposed to doing what I’m doing now: researching at a distance online. I know you mention several networking opportunities where meeting in-person would be necessary: gold card network, trade shows. The start-up scene may be another good place to look into as well.
With all that being said, I’m just hestitant without first devising a plan or having solid connections beforehand. I’m trying to mitigate the risk of going to Taiwan just to end up lost and forced to move back when my budget runs out.
How can I remain productive with my time there? Taiwan, despite being just an island, is still a big place. I can’t even imagine looking for contacts in Thailand, HK, India, or the rest of Asia. How does one find these European companies based there?
Should I be scouring social media, this and other forums, networking/industry events? Should I be making cold calls/emails? Building an online presence? This is just random stuff I’m brainstorming on the spot… which I can see myself doing here in the US, but in Asia? It’s daunting, to say the least.
I think this needs more thought, you should create a flowchart. For example if you get a local job what if you don’t like your boss? Would that be a situation you’re comfortable living in? What if you like your job but you don’t get a pay increase after a year? Or you don’t get a promotion after two years? Should you switch jobs at that point and find a foreign employer? But would having a local job increase your social status and dating prospects? What doors would it help open in Taiwan? If you meet that special someone does it mean you can’t work late nights for foreign employers anymore?
You should list out the pros and cons to these two paths once you have the flowchart ready.
Can you be more specific as to what you’re looking for? You can do it in a PM if you want. In general pay is gonna be somewhere starting from France to slightly above Germany. More likely than not closer to France. You know the pay levels I assume since you’ve been there for 2 years. If you’re good with that then the next hurdle is to separate the hay and the chaff of shitty management.
If I were to work for a job in Taiwan, I imagine that it would be in the same role as I have held before: software/cloud infrastructure and automation. I can also do full-stack web development.
As far as salaries go, and I know there’s a large range in all three places, but after much research in my field, I can safely generalize: in France, it’s half of that in the US. In Taiwan, it’s 1/3.
It’s a little hard to digest, and makes me wonder if, all else being equal, I should just pursue other alternatives. I’m open to any insight you might have for looking beyond salary, however.
It’s just not that simple. I’m a software dev too, my pay is 10% higher than my friend in a similar position in one of the largest companies in France. I pay less than 20% for insurance, tax and pension. He pays north of 1/3. My costs are a fraction of his as well.
I’m not sure the situation in cloud but in my neck of the woods it’s not that bad.
Anyways. My suggestion is to apply first and decide later. Everybody’s experience is different. I got 2 offers in 2 months, others with similar qualifications looked for years with no success. One of my friend got a job for double my salary others get much less than me. I work remote with unlimited leave. Others can barely get a single leave approved.
I get it, it seems the sensible approach. That said usually you can’t really make it happen from there. Generally speaking though gotta be here. You can make a list and check it twice but you have to be here to action it I reckon.
Do you speak Chinese ? This helps a lot with getting local job offers, doesn’t even need to be good Chinese if you are dealing with foreigners or some international facing teams but it just puts them at ease.
In the old days a lot of introductions and job opportunities came from socialising in pubs. These days it could be at the start up events and other networking activities or even sports clubs or chambers of commerce as you already identified.
FOC was right that Taiwan is a great place to be the boss. Ever think about being your own boss and having your own business , now could be the chance. But yeah usually folks would have a few contacts in the local (local meaning Taiwan/Japan/China/SEA) industry of choice first which would have often been gained by working for a couple of years with an employer. Some seem to be able to skip that bit.
Are there any popular job / resume posting sites for local and foreign employers looking in the Taiwan market? I’m also a software engineer specialized in big data, streaming, backend systems, and infrastructure.
Would you mind sharing from what channels you got the offers? From someone you know, or job posting sites, or headhunter agencies?
Afaik headhunters don’t bother with Juniors or seniors.
104 for me. I did everything in English, even the message to the recruiters. Also you should know salaries stated there are nonsense. Just ignore them and apply to positions you like.
I do. I’m around HK4-5. I do okay colloquially, but would be very limited professionally. Also, the Taiwanese accent is somewhat difficult, but I’m sure if I lived there I would get used to it quickly. It’s great to know that that’s going to help, thank you.
Yup, definitely. But always hesitant for lack of all the things you mentioned. It’s good to have it spelled out though. It’s certainly something to work towards.