Continuing our series looking at global hiring trends, we caught up with Patty Yang, Morgan Philips MD in Taiwan. 

So how is the recruitment market faring in Taiwan? “The booming markets are software, data engineering and manufacturing followed by pharma, healthcare and biotech. Then there is of course semiconductors, which is the most important industry in Taiwan – think of TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] – a lot of businesses are connected to the semiconductor industry,” notes Patty Yang. “Industry & Manufacturing is also doing well as we have a number of key global consumer electronics companies with their HQs in Taiwan.”

Interestingly, the Taiwanese economy has shown remarkable resilience. “We’ve had some cases but we’re adhering to international measures and protocols even though we’ve never been in lockdown, so we’ve not really had a chance to understand the virtual reality that has hit so many other economies,” remarks Yang.

This is borne out in the numbers. Taiwan’s exports rose in August by 8.3%, a record of $31.2bn. The country has a trade surplus of $6.47bn, the highest since 2017, “in part due to the investment pouring in due to the China-US trade war”.

‘Scarcity of top talent’

Employers though are still facing challenges when it comes to securing best talent. As Yang explains, “There is a real battle for example to hire software and data engineers. Every company is trying to poach the best talent, especially now that so much business is carried out online and digitalised. So unsurprisingly there is a strong demand for IT, AI and digital software engineers. The scarcity of top talent manes that these individuals are able to command higher salaries than they normally would.”

Hiring managers are looking for accomplished professionals, both with strong technical and interpersonal skills. “Agility is a buzzword. As a broad concept it covers such areas as learning agility and change management. Given the changes in the market, there is a growing requirement for individuals to become more agile and cope with change. Also with some companies restructuring, professionals need to be adaptable. Communication is a key skill as is excellent working knowledge of English – this is a must have in Taiwan.”

“Most organisations in Taiwan allow people to be more flexible, so the impact here is more flexibility and trust – employees have the freedom to decide whether to stay home or come to office, that is the norm. As long as you deliver, it’s up to you where you work. Companies support individuals working from home,” stresses Yang.

Desire for training and development

With many organisations looking to keep costs down, there is strong competition for places. Yang advises, “When looking for a new role, candidates need to be more aggressive, so focus on personal branding and market yourself across different channels. Personal connections are also very important so harness those professional networks, such as LinkedIn.”

And what should employers do to attract the best talent in such a competitive marketplace? “Top candidates are looking for career progression opportunities, as well as added responsibility and bigger scope – any roles with the potential to move overseas or that are located in Taiwan and cover multiple geographic areas are particularly attractive to jobseekers. Training and development always ranks highly as a motivator for jobseekers.”

If you’re looking for your next role or want to hire top talent in Taiwan, you can contact Patty at patty.yang@morganphilips.com.