Taipei vs. Singapore vs. Shanghai vs. Los Angeles

Business Money
#1

Background
About a year ago I was working as a sales engineer in Los Angeles and decided that I had enough of reading about the great economic boom in Asia and rather than sit back and watch it on TV I wanted to be a part of it. I started to save up and talked to my friiends regarding a job with a US based company in SE Asia. Unfortunatly after looking online and exchanging a few emails it became clear that most companies wanted a basic understanding of Mandarin before they would hire you.

About 7 months ago an old college friend emailed me saying she was coming back to Taiwan and if I was still interested in learning Chinese she knew a good school in Taipei. Make a long story short I’ve spent the last 7 months at NTNU learning Mandarin and working in the marketing department of a large software company.

Now
So after 7 months of working in the buisness world in Taipei I’ve come to the conclusion that this is not something I would ever want to do on a full time basis. The hours are horrendous they pay isn’t anywhere near what I was making in the US and I don’t have any vacation to go traveling around SE Asia. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of things I love about Taiwan but the buisness world isn’t one of them. I’ve hard plenty of western workers say their views are disregarded on a regular basis and that their companies basically see them as replaceable parts in a big machine so I know it’s not just my experience with my company.

My question is this the norm in Asia ? Do tech companies in Singapore and Shanghai expect their employees to work saturdays on a regular basis ? I know Singapore has more holidays and vacation days than Taiwan but what about Shanghai ? I have had a few emails from recruiters back in Los Angeles but I don’t want to give up yet so any advice or pointers towards other resources online is highly appreciated.

#2

[quote=“snafu”]Background
Now
So after 7 months of working in the buisness world in Taipei I’ve come to the conclusion that this is not something I would ever want to do on a full time basis. The hours are horrendous they pay isn’t anywhere near what I was making in the US and I don’t have any vacation to go traveling around SE Asia. [/quote]

Come on, you cannot compare the salary that you got in the US with Taiwan. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. The wages for local staff in TW is not that high, so unless you’re on an expat package, it’s unlikely to get much higher.

[quote=“snafu”]
I’ve hard plenty of western workers say their views are disregarded on a regular basis and that their companies basically see them as replaceable parts in a big machine so I know it’s not just my experience with my company. [/quote]

Isn’t that true of most large corporations? Noone is indispensable, everyone is replacable.

[quote=“snafu”]
My question is this the norm in Asia ? Do tech companies in Singapore and Shanghai expect their employees to work saturdays on a regular basis ? I know Singapore has more holidays and vacation days than Taiwan but what about Shanghai ? I have had a few emails from recruiters back in Los Angeles but I don’t want to give up yet so any advice or pointers towards other resources online is highly appreciated.[/quote]

Is your company a TW company or a MNC? I would be very surprised a MNC would force their employees to work every Saturdays. Whether its Singapore, Shanghai or Taipei, MNCs would not normally make their employees come in on Saturdays. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for TW companies to expect that from their employees. You only need to find a job with a MNC here in Taipei. If you would like more assistance on finding a new job, please PM me for details.

#3

Nothing beats working for an international company. That’s what you should aim for.

HG

#4

Or start your own company and aim to make it international. But seriously, even if u start as a local, if u can make yourself indispensible you can build your way up to an expat salary. But even if you can speak Chinese… unless you have some other skills, you’re still very much a commodity. We have secretaries at my work, fluent in 3 languages… they get paid a touch over $30K per month

#5

[quote=“mlpgd”]

Come on, you cannot compare the salary that you got in the US with Taiwan. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. The wages for local staff in TW is not that high, so unless you’re on an expat package, it’s unlikely to get much higher.

Isn’t that true of most large corporations? Noone is indispensable, everyone is replacable.

Is your company a TW company or a MNC? I would be very surprised a MNC would force their employees to work every Saturdays. Whether its Singapore, Shanghai or Taipei, MNCs would not normally make their employees come in on Saturdays. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for TW companies to expect that from their employees. You only need to find a job with a MNC here in Taipei. If you would like more assistance on finding a new job, please PM me for details.[/quote]

I wouldn’t compare salaries but rather quality of life, free time to travel, yes salaries would definitly be lower but I thought the hours would be a bit better. My company as you guessed is a TW company, they have a high turnover rate and basically work everyone to the bone.

Just looking at the list of jobs being posted I see a lot more tech jobs for singapore than I do for Taiwan (for taiwan I look mostly at tealit and forumosa). I haven’t looked at Shanghai yet. I agree that the working for an MNC is the best job but not really sure how I would go about finding a job like that.

As for the language yeah I thought having a tech background and knowning english and Mandarin would really set me apart but so many people speak english these days that it doesn’t seem to make a big difference.