07/07/2022
Is Taiwan really worth of the sacrifices?
Well, many of us Filipino dream to go abroad and I couldn’t blame them because compared to the Philippines, the salary is way too high. We can surely save for the future of our loved ones if we know how to handle our finances very well.
I worked in Taiwan for 5 years in total, but for 3 contracts. My 1st Taiwan was in 2011-2013 in Wistron Corporation, my 2nd one was in ASE Chung-li from 2017-2018, and my last one was in SPIL from 2020-2022. I break my contracts most of the time because I couldn’t endure being away from my family. That’s why I really admire those Filipina mommies who have the guts to work and sacrificed a lot just to make sure that they work longer in Taiwan and will provide a better future for their children.
The question here is: Is it really worth working in Taiwan? Well, I can tell that compared here in the Philippines, the minimum wage in Taiwan for foreign people is really high. The working set up is 2-2 which means that you’ll work 2 consecutive days and after that 2 consecutive rest days. In a week, you’ll only work for 4-5 days if no overtime. But if you want to have overtime, you must go to work the 3rd day which means you have to work 6 days a week for 12 hours. And you can earn $NT25,000 equivalent to Php36,800 with no overtime, but if you have overtime, depending on how much overtime you render you can earn 45,000 up in NT$. Sounds good right? But wait, before considering applying you must also know the cons of working in Taiwan.
You can’t earn the full $NT25,000 because it also has a lot of deductions in it. If you’re lucky and the company that you got was free of everything from brokers fee, medical, arc fee and all. They will less only a little amount. The broker’s fee costs NT$1800 for the 1st year of your stay in Taiwan, it’ll be cut down to NT$1500 for the 2nd and NT$1200 for your 3rd year. There are companies who will pay for the broker’s fee of their employees but some companies will not. Example companies who pay for their employee's broker's fees are ASE, Wistron, SPIL, KYEC, PTI, and many more. So expect not to get a clean NT$25000 because it has so many deductions from dorm fees, welfare fees, health insurance, tax, and many more.
I have seen a lot of Filipinos working in Taiwan not just in the manufacturing industry but also some of them are caregivers. Some of the factories in Taiwan required that their applicants must be at least 2 years in college or has extensive experience in manufacturing company here in the Philippines, some of them, are specific with semi-conductor experience or electronics experience, and also they have height, weight, and age requirement.
Getting to Taiwan is not easy, you have to go through initial screening from the Philippine agencies who are stricter and ask a lot of requirements but when you get to Taiwan, you’ll find it not necessary, Why? Because Taiwan companies hire people even just high school graduates and fresh graduates. Also when you get into the interview you’ll go through a long queue of interviewees.
I remember when I was applying to ASE. We were interviewed in one of the hotels in Malate, Manila. I got there at 3 in the morning, I left our house in Bulacan at 1 o’clock to ensure that I won’t be late for the interview. When I got to the venue I was shocked to know that the numbers of applicant that will be interviewed that day were almost 1000 people but they will only hire 200-300 applicant. Imagine that?
The application process was not easy, but being interviewed on that day was way more difficult. I was starved, got confused, tired plus really pressured at that time. But when I got to Taiwan and had to work in ASE Company. The work is really difficult that I couldn’t endure it that’s why I resigned from the job, plus your Filipino co-workers who are tenured there will treat you bad because you’re just a newbie. They will shout at you, embarrass you, and sometimes they will put you down. It’s really degrading for newbies. So all my sacrifices just to go there were all wasted.
I’m not saying this to discourage you to apply in Taiwan. It’s just that you have to think twice, prepare yourself, and keep in mind why you want to go there and be ready mentally and emotionally to make sure that all your effort will never be wasted.
