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forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

No, you have a point. I mean how many skilled professionals would be willing to live in Taiwan when they get paltry expat packages like housing allowances upto NT$250,000 a month, salaries of upto NT$400,000 a month, two free business class tickets home per year, free car, free schooling for the kids...I mean I would certainly stay at home if I were offered that. Would you JZer?

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

Not at all. You're missing the point.

In many European companies many expat managers are sent oevrseas and given generous packages because they have the skills to implement the company culture upon a largely foreign workforce, and have the capacity to make big buck decisions within the context of a foreign country. It is imperative they speak the principal language in which the company operates, and has little to do with their English level. It has everything to do instead with being a national of the country to which the company belongs, because that is where the skilled managerial workforce are recruited from! It is thus unlikely that someone who is English shall be allowed to work at the top level for a German company in Taiwan if they can't speak German, and don't have experience of living and working in Germany. Same for a French company, Spanish company, etc.

Sorry but your point about English is king smacks of a linguistic imperialism, and is irrelevant to the top level workings of most overseas companies in Taiwan. If you don't speak the language that the company operates in 'back home' then the recruiter would simply not hire them. Why would offer NT400,000 per month salaries on someone who can't converse in the company's langauge, or to the OP's point, Chinese either?

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

I think it's a very simple approach and rather naive to think that if you have a skill it will lead to working overseas for a foreign company. The situation is much more complicated particularly with regards to how the company culture is formed and expected to operate overseas. Whilst it is true that a foreign company might do business with its clients in English in terms of internal matters everything is done in the company's home language at the admin level. Having skills alone therefore is not enough, and besides there is always someone from the company's home country who also have the same or similar skills.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

Can you provide any evidence to support your claim that companies have to do things in English?

SEndrigo · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 437

SEndrigo · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 437

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

SEndrigo - FRom your experiences in Japan were you dealing with American, Canadian and English expats, or say Spaniards, Germans, Italians, etc.?

SEndrigo · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 437

Hey Forest1979,

I met all kinds of foreign business executives, but most were either American, British, or French. In fact there seem to be quite a few French people in Tokyo now.

I also met a Swiss executive, but he had been in Japan for quite a few years at that point. Interestingly enough, he was the guy who first got me interested in considering Taiwan.

According to him, Taiwan had the friendliest people he had ever met!

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

Cool!

Most of the expats I met in Taiwan did not have English as their mother tongue, but from conversations with them they had good English. English was solely a working language, e.g. to communicate with Japanese, but inside their companies they tended to work exclusively with their staff in their own mother tongues, and not in English.