Japanese, followed by Malaysians, then Americans, comprise 49 percent of total foreign professionals in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date:\ 2020/04/30
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The latest statistics of foreign professionals in Taiwan released on Thursday (April 30) by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) showed that Malaysians have overtaken Americans as the second most numerous foreign professionals in Taiwan.

A total of 31,124 foreign professionals were legally hired in Taiwan at the end of 2019, the report said. In the past, Japanese usually accounted for the largest expatriate group in Taiwan, followed by Americans. The data showed that Malaysians have overtaken Americans for the first time.

MOL attributed the phenomenon to an increase in Malaysian students who stayed in Taiwan to work after completing their studies, according to the report.

Of the 31,124 foreign professionals working in Taiwan, 74.2 percent were male and 25.8 percent were female. In terms of nationality, Japanese led the pack, accounting for 23.5 percent of the foreign workforce, followed by Malaysians, who represented 13.5 percent, and finally, Americans, who made up 11.8 percent, the statistics showed.    [FULL  STORY]