White-Collar Foreign Workers in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper discusses capital-assisted and non-capital-assisted migration to Taiwan. Despite a yearly average of US$915 million in direct foreign investment (DFI) in Taiwan in the 1980s, the number of professional transient migrants in Taiwan is not large, totaling only 960 persons in 1988. As sources of both DFI and capital-assisted migration, Japan ranked highest, followed by the United States and Europe. Foreign professionals sent by transnational corporations are likely to be found in capital and technology intensive industries, as well as trade and the services. Among non-capital-assisted migrants, American English teachers are highlighted with results of a case study on their characteristics, work experience and adjustment.

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