Employment Prospects for Foreign Graduates in Taiwan After COVID-19

Although the Taiwanese government has done an excellent job at handling the COVID-19 crisis the measures that it took to achieve this severely affected foreign students in Taiwan. Many found their studies interrupted as border controls were introduced which prevented them from re-entering the country. For those who are due to graduate in the class of 2020 the situation was especially worrying. However, as Taiwan is gradually re-opening the borders students are, where possible, being prioritized and there are signs that the Taiwanese job market may prove to be strong despite the effects of the coronavirus.

It is no secret that there are a lot of foreign graduates who would like to make Taiwan their second home. A survey published last month conducted by the non-profit Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan found that 83.6 percent of international students enrolled in Taiwanese universities wanted to stay and work in the country if presented with a good employment opportunity.

Since 2017 those who have graduated from Taiwanese universities are able to obtain work permits under the Points System for Foreign Graduates in Taiwan. In order to be eligible, the graduate needs to achieve a score of 70 points or above. This allows foreign graduates to avoid the high minimum income requirement for foreign professionals (which is set at just shy of NT$48,000) which previously meant that foreign graduates struggled to find entry level positions which generally start at around NT$30,000.

Professor Vera Chang and graduate student Mariana Vallejo Vergara from the International Human Resources Development program, attend their graduation ceremony at National Taiwan Normal University.

However, the COVID-19 virus has caused a lot of uncertainty among foreign students in Taiwan, many of whom have gone back to their countries and have had to remain there. According to statistics from the National Immigration Agency, fewer than 30% of the total overseas students registered to study in higher education institutes in Taiwan during the 2019-2020 academic year were in the country in June due to travel restrictions being implemented all around the world. Additionally, global hiring prospects look weak for new graduates as companies struggle to stay afloat in the face of disruption caused by the virus.

Taiwanese Universities Step Up

Despite the fact that the virus remains very active in many countries around the world, which makes it hard for students to come back, there have been some positive developments in Taiwan. Universities like National Taiwan Normal University have allowed students to continue working on their graduation thesis from their home countries, giving them the opportunity to continue with their graduation process even if they can’t immediately return.

The government has also eased travel restrictions from a list of 18 selected countries, allowing the first batch of eight students to make it back to Taiwan  at the end of last month, with many more scheduled to return in the near future. Naturally, as with all other arrivals, the students will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period.

Will ‘Business Corridors’ improve employment prospects?

At the time of press Taiwan has kept its infection rate at 449 cases with just 55 of those being domestically transmitted. The outstanding work Taiwan has done has garnered a lot of international recognition, including the United Kingdom recently including Taiwan in its safe corridor, opening the possibility to the resumption of business between the two countries.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed this development by saying that “such open border measures are expected to spur economic growth and help increase trade and investment between Taiwan and the United Kingdom”; this is good news for Taiwan’s economic prospects, the welcome measure by the U.K. might lead other developed nations to adopt a similar stand, stimulating the local tourism and trade industries that have been affected by the virus. If the business between Taiwan and other developed countries resumes, the job market will also be positively affected as it could prompt some companies to re-start their hiring processes.

These developments do not mean that a return to normalcy is around the corner, however the job market seems to also give some hope to the foreign graduates that wish to stay and develop their careers in the country. The Adecco Group Taiwan published a survey at the end of April in which they found that 60% of the Taiwanese companies did not make any changes to their recruiting strategies, and taking in consideration how the virus has remained under control in the country, it would be logical to think that many companies in the 40% have already resumed their regular recruiting practices, providing more opportunities to interested candidates.

Proposed Changes to the Work Permit Process

In the regulatory field, another positive development is in the works which may also affect those who graduate outside of Taiwan in the long-term.

Last month the Talent Circulation Alliance (TCA)—which describes itself as a “public-private partnership launched by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and Taiwanese authorities to facilitate the circulation of talent between Taiwan and like-minded partners”—held an event to present its first White Paper, which provided recommendations to the government to transform the country into an international talent hub.

At the event, president Tsai Ing-Wen 蔡英文 said that Taiwan has a “plan to further loosen regulations on hiring foreign professionals and increase incentives for companies that hire them,” something that gives hope to the many foreign professionals and students that wish to stay and work in Taiwan.

In a recent article in Taiwan Business Topics, it was mentioned that the TCA White Paper has recommended regulatory changes to the Taiwanese government to help “break through some of the main current institutional barriers to integrating foreign talent in Taiwan”.

The article references to a pending piece of legislation called the “New Economic Migrants Act”, which will eliminate the current requirement of 2 years of post-graduation experience and minimum salary requirements for foreign applicants, substituting it with the 70 points criteria to get the work permit instead. The draft also eliminates the capital requirements to hire foreigners (for a certain sector of industries) and creates a new category for foreign laborer called the “mid-level technician”, a term applicable to foreigners with intermediate skills.

If approved in its current state, the bill will effectively eliminate many of the troublesome hiring requirements, allowing foreign professionals and graduates to come and establish their career in Taiwan more easily. This will not only benefit the foreign graduate aspirations by increasing employment opportunities, but it will also help local and foreign companies established in Taiwan to fill out positions in which foreign language abilities or a certain degree of expertise is required.

Graduate students and professors Jean Lin, Allen Lu, Vera Chang, Steven Lai, and Rosa Yeh, standing at the center, from the International Human Resources Development program, attend their graduation ceremony at National Taiwan Normal University.

This also means that startup companies—which oftentimes are not able to meet the capital requirements to employ a foreigner—will be able to do so. This will lead to an increase in job opportunities diversifying Taiwan’s workforce, which in turn will help to support the social security network, given that foreign employees also pay labor and health insurance, and income tax. Whether the increased outside competition has an effect on the local university graduates is yet to be seen, but given that Taiwanese companies already hire only the most qualified applicants, this might not be the case. Besides, it would be logical to assume that local companies would rather hire people that already know the culture and have some basic language skills.

President Tsai has made it very clear that she intends to raise the standard of English proficiency in Taiwan, something that will be very beneficial for Taiwan given that English is widely recognized as the international language of business. To achieve this goal—referred to as the 2030 Bilingual Country Project —allowing more foreign graduates to become part of the Taiwanese workforce might be one of the most effective ways for Taiwanese employees to improve their English speaking abilities while giving the many foreign students that want to work in Taiwan post graduation a chance to fulfill their dreams.

(All photos courtesy of the International Human Resources Development program, National Taiwan Normal University.)