I don’t really look at it this way. Yes, people make less money here on average than, say, in the US, and people in the Philippines make even less on average – comparing salary levels is not very meaningful except in our own context. I know people in Taiwan who live here with their kids, but work remotely overnight trading on financial markets for US hedge funds. US salaries with a Taiwan cost of living and lifestyle for the family.
On the flip side, I know how much we paid a caregiver from the Philippines we brought over for my father-in-law after he suffered a stroke. The caregiver’s sister has been employed as a domestic helper for 15 years in my brother’s home; I don’t know how much my brother pays the older sister, but coming to Taiwan likely pushed the younger sister’s salary level to one comparable to the older one’s despite the younger one not having any serious work experience at the time. And if it weren’t for Taiwan’s labor laws, which peg a minimum wage for caregivers and domestic helpers at 4x to 10x what you might find in Manila, the younger one would be earning far less. (NOTE: even under the Philippines’s Kasambahay Law, domestic helpers outside Manila face a similar disparity to those in Manila).
So, in other words, I don’t think it is as much about companies exploiting the worker as it is there being workers (caregivers, CRAs, fresh graduates, etc), being willing to work for less. And they are willing to work for less because they have a lifestyle that they are cool with - being close to family, relatively cheap beef noodle soup, no mass shootings, and the shadow of China invading at any time.
Below are some salary threads I found on the forums, if you are interested in this type of discussion