My cousin’s boyfriend works at a real estate company that does expat rentals. From what he says about the international companies they work with, expats get large housing allowances, like 100K/m or more for specialists and double that for managers/executives. It’s not like there are 1000s of these people coming all the time tho.
Companies, well at least those I did work for in the past, are pretty cunning about who they offer expat packages to. They tend to offer it to the younger more adventurous ones, who already see it as a benefit, rather than an imposition. That way they have some leverage on salary. Of course if it is some mission critical role that only a few people can do, I suppose they would have to pay up. But I’m not sure how representative that is of all expats. A lot of them are up and comers, who will take the deal, even if it is not that great.
Some good replies to my question. I guess, as mentioned earlier, it’s just one of those things that happens when you’ve gained lots of experience in the region and have a killer CV, not something you can just find in a job posting (with some exceptions, but those still require the local knowledge). Maybe one day it’ll happen to me. 
In some industries expats go from region to region, country to country, following the projects. Long term is pretty rare.
in some contracts twice a year 
Taiwan’s international schools are relatively cheap. By far the most expensive in Taiwan is TAS, and its still cheaper than its counterparts in Bangkok, KL, Singapore, Manila, and Jakarta.
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I don’t think many expats are going to be rushing to Taiwan right now no matter what the latest Internations survey says
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TAS is about the same as SAS (US$30k and change), and when you combine the one time capital payment, it’s a few thousand dollars more expensive at TAS.
Add to that the housing costs around SAS are cheaper and much higher quality than TAS and the general quality of life around SAS is higher than TAS, the comparison becomes lopsided.
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I didn’t say TAS was a LOT cheaper, just that it’s cheaper. The IASAS schools are all pretty close in cost. I’m just saying that even Taiwan’s most expensive international school isn’t more expensive than the comparable schools in 5 other countries in the region, so it was odd that the poster to whom I was responding lumped Taiwan in with Japan as countries where international school cost would make expat package cost more here. The numbers just don’t support that.
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This has been my experience as well.
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I understand your point, but based on my napkin math TAS would cost about US$2,000/year more than SAS for a typical 2 year assignment. Not enough to significantly effect an expat package. More likely to effect the package is it takes a lot more money to have a similar lifestyle and the pro-labor laws here.
Everyone I’ve talked to in Taipei who has lived in Singapore has told me how much higher the cost of living is there, and how the same salary goes much further here. I’ve only been there once, as a visitor, but my observations certainly my matched their experiences. Are you saying the opposite was true in your case?
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Yes, by a lot. But I lived next to SAS, just as I live close to TAS. Perhaps your friends lived downtown or in the center communities. I know that Singapore is considered a much more expensive country than Taiwan, and I suspect by most criteria it is. But it was cheaper for me to live close to my US lifestyle in the community around SAS than it is to do so around TAS.
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According to this video, living costs in Shinzu are lower than Taipei even though incomes are higher and growing faster.
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Ah …quality Taiwanese TV show…Who can shout the most.
What’s funny is that guy presents the Weather as well. Taiwanese bosses don’t like you slacking off.
Had to take a moment and think about what this place was. There is Hsinchu, which is the Taiwanese way of romanizing the word, and there is Xinzhu, which is the pinyin for 新竹. Shinzu is a new one for me.
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I prefer Sinzoo.
Interesting. I also live near TAS, and my cost of living is significantly less here than when I lived in a mid-priced US city. I’ve always thought of Singapore’s costs as being more in line with high-priced US cities, or maybe Tokyo or Hong Kong, even. I’m just talking about basics like housing, utilities, food, and drinks. If you want a car, of course, then Singapore gets even more ridiculous.
Numbeo is a stupid website.
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