Even as student programs expand, the leap from campus to career remains elusive for many foreign graduates.

Taiwan’s universities are attracting more international students than at any point in the past five years. Yet even as these young people build networks and gain industry knowledge, most leave the island after graduation — a missed opportunity in a labor market already stretched thin.

Taiwan is confronting a tightening labor market that threatens to stall growth in its most important industries. The National Development Council projects about 350,000 job vacancies by 2028. Even after accounting for expected gains in the domestic workforce, the country still faces a shortfall of roughly 200,000 positions — including 80,000 blue-collar roles and 120,000 technical and high-skill jobs — in sectors such as semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and healthcare.

Official data from the Ministry of Education (MOE) shows that 123,188 international students were enrolled at Taiwan’s colleges and universities in 2024, the highest in five years and an increase of 3,259 from the previous year.

For employers grappling with a shrinking talent pool, the numbers are encouraging: these students graduate with locally earned credentials, familiarity with Taiwan’s industries, and the beginnings of professional networks. Still, enrollment numbers alone do not guarantee long-term contributions to the workforce, as the transition from student life to local employment remains a critical challenge.

Even as they become more integrated into Taiwanese society and prepare to take their first steps as young professionals, many international students leave after graduation. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), which counts more than 1,700 international degree-seeking students — 12.05% of its student body, the highest share among Taiwan’s top national universities — saw only 82 graduates from the 2022 to 2024 cohort remain to work in Taiwan.

NTNU marks this number as a success in its talent retention initiatives, citing strong performance in international student recruitment and multicultural engagement, as well as effective long-term internationalization efforts. For example, the Academy of Preparatory Programs for Overseas Chinese Students has provided NTNU students with greater learning and living opportunities in Taiwan on top of a solid academic foundation, according to the university.

Outside of the university sphere, there are other players trying to fill the gap. The Overseas Student Career Service Group — a campus ambassador program run by 104 Job Bank, Taiwan’s largest recruitment platform — brings together local and international students to share experiences, identify challenges and relay feedback on the job-hunting process. In return, participants gain workplace exposure, peer connections and career guidance, while helping 104 fine-tune its services for the international talent market.

Julius Ling, 104’s product specialist of foreign talent services and a former student ambassador from Malaysia who now works full time in Taiwan, describes the program as a space where students “can share concerns, feel heard, and get practical support.” For newcomers, he adds, “there’s a lot of common sense we don’t have when we first come to Taiwan. It’s good to have a community where we can share information and even our feelings of uncertainty.”

Building on such grassroots support, 104 has also expanded its efforts through institutional partnerships. Since March, 104 has partnered with 14 universities to host bilingual campus job fairs that offer career planning assistance in English and Chinese.

“We also cooperate with the OCAC (Overseas Community Affairs Council) annually for its Overseas Students Career Fair,” says 104 General Manager Joe Chen. This event is designed to connect overseas Chinese and international students in Taiwan with local employers, and it features job openings, career counseling, and résumé translation services.

The collaboration leverages OCAC’s network of overseas student groups and 104’s job-matching platform to help students transition into the local workforce. “They have resources and connections with the overseas student associations, so we can work with them to provide more information to the students about career opportunities in Taiwan,” Chen says.

Alongside private-sector initiatives, nonprofits have also taken up the task of helping foreign graduates navigate Taiwan’s systems. One example is the national-level nonprofit Crossroads, which works to connect foreign residents with the island’s legal, social and civic systems. While working to improve Taiwan’s circulation of talent and overall internationalization, some of its efforts also extend to recent graduates hoping to build a future in Taiwan.

 “Keeping international talent is less about raw headcount and more about ensuring Taiwan’s legal, economic, and cultural systems support long-term success,” says Crossroads secretary-general David Chang.

The organization convenes roundtables with universities, government agencies, and other nonprofits to align career development, education, and social policy. Chang says universities can do more to highlight the contributions of international students and to design retention pathways that connect classroom experience to employer demand.

“It’s about going from zero to a little bit more,” he says. “That progress makes a difference over time.”

In parallel with grassroots organizations, government programs are attempting to formalize pathways into the workforce. For example, the MOE’s International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program integrates government, industry, and university resources to provide scholarships, co-designed curricula, and paid internships in fields such as STEM, finance, and semiconductors, with graduates required to work in Taiwan for a period matching their funding.

The program is already showing strong domestic uptake. After relaxing entry conditions — including allowing students to stay in their original program and extending language deadlines — autumn 2024 saw 366 international students across 20 Taiwanese universities receive scholarships. With 62 classes from 22 schools approved for the spring semester and a target enrollment of 1,092 students, the program is rapidly scaling, reinforcing its contribution to retaining foreign graduates.

The post-grad bottleneck

Even as more students are supported during their studies, the real test comes after graduation. According to 104’s data, the number of companies welcoming foreign talent has increased year-by-year over the past three years, but such companies still account for only 40% of all employers.

“According to our 2024 data, foreigners receive about half the job invitations compared to locals,” says Amanda Chen, 104’s alliance project manager. “Companies may be hesitant due to language and cultural differences, or uncertainty over whether they can retain foreign talent.”

To encourage more companies to hire foreigners, 104 counsels employers on creating welcoming workplaces, improving cross-cultural communication, handling work permit applications and training human resources staff in diversity and inclusion — steps meant to benefit both local and international employees.

The 104 platform lists over 96,000 “foreigner-friendly” job openings as of August 2025, which the company says is a category assigned to jobs or companies that have actually hired, previously invited or interviewed, or explicitly indicated a willingness to hire non-Taiwanese talent. Most of these listings also meet the legal prerequisites for hiring international workers, including salary thresholds, registered business capital requirements, and permitted job categories. “Not every company meets the qualifications to hire foreign workers,” says Joe Chen.

For instance, a Taiwan-based company must report annual revenue above NT$10 million (about US$333,000) or hold at least NT$5 million in capital to qualify to hire foreign professionals. On top of that, “there is a minimum salary limitation,” says Joe Chen. Employers must pay at least NT$47,971 a month (about US$1,600) — a high bar in a market where the median monthly wage is just NT$37,000 (about US$1,230).

Wages and policy gaps

The reasons many international graduates do not turn their studies into local employment are varied. Pay, work-life balance, career advancement, language support, and company culture all weigh heavily in whether they stay in Taiwan or look abroad.

In AmCham Taiwan’s 2025 Business Climate Survey, when asked which aspects make Taiwan a good place for foreign professionals to live and work (out of 19 factors), respondents reported “globally competitive salaries” among the least attractive.

“Taiwan’s relatively low wages have drawn increasing criticism, particularly in the context of rising housing and living costs,” the survey report says. “This challenge is further exacerbated by stark wage disparities between urban centers like Taipei and less metropolitan regions.”

Graduate students who earn their degrees in Taiwan often face lower starting wages than peers from overseas universities, despite official salary thresholds and calls for higher pay. To determine eligibility for foreign graduates, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) uses a “70-point system” that scores applicants on education, language skills and specialized expertise.

Those who reach 70 points or more in the system can apply for a work permit through the ministry’s Workforce Development Agency. But meeting the threshold also waives the minimum salary requirement, allowing companies to pay as little as between NT$38,000 and NT$42,000 a month — a policy meant to encourage hiring that can end up penalizing the very graduates it is designed to help.

“The system was supposed to encourage talent retention,” says Ling. “It’s also very easy to get the 70 points.” He adds that “based on my experience, foreigner students may still accept lower pay because they prioritize securing a visa and staying in Taiwan over negotiating higher wages.”

In 2024, Su Yu-kuo, head of the Workforce Development Agency’s Cross-Border Workforce Management Division, said the MOL was discussing scrapping the points system for foreign graduates. The ministry was instead weighing the creation of a dedicated work permit for overseas compatriot graduates, according to Taipei Times.

The system, however, remains in place, with a guide to the scoring criteria still posted on the MOL’s EZ Work website. The OCAC defines an “overseas compatriot student” as someone of Chinese or Taiwanese descent who was born and raised abroad, or who has lived overseas for at least six consecutive years with permanent or long-term residency. The Executive Yuan has proposed allowing these students, along with international ones, two years to seek employment freely, but the amendments have yet to be formally announced.

In August 2025, the Legislative Yuan amended the Foreign Professionals Act to broaden eligibility and ease residency rules. The revisions expand the work experience exemption to graduates of the world’s top 1,500 universities, up from 500, and allow foreign professionals to count years spent studying in Taiwan toward residency — three for a doctorate, two for a master’s, and one for a bachelor’s or associate degree.

A smarter way to stay

AmCham’s Business Climate Survey ranked the “ease of using digital services in a foreign language” among the five weakest aspects of living in Taiwan — a gap that organizations like 104 say hinders both job seekers and potential employers.

To address this challenge, 104 offers multilingual functionality and instant translation tools through its web platform. Listings remain in their original language to preserve nuance, with translations available on demand. “If an employer wants to hire someone who can speak Chinese, automatically translating their posting could cause misunderstandings,” says Amanda Chen.

“We want to keep the job posting in the original language so job seekers can understand the language and proficiency level required for the position,” she says. For overseas students, English listings are prioritized in the system, and job recommendations are provided based on their background and skills.

Practical steps could also improve retention, such as establishing a single “student-to-worker” pathway connecting universities, government agencies and employers. Clearer rules for residency permit transitions, along with straightforward checklists for companies, would eliminate much of the current uncertainty.

Incentives such as short-term wage subsidies or tax credits for turning internships into full-time jobs could make hiring foreign graduates less daunting. Targeted residency fast-tracks in high-demand fields would link immigration benefits more directly to labor needs. Companies that partner with universities, join bilingual job fairs, and adopt practical HR guidelines for onboarding international talent would be better positioned to close skills gaps quickly.

“Employers often underestimate the unique value foreign employees bring,” says Joe Chen. “If we want Taiwan to truly compete for global talent, we need to build a sustainable ecosystem that attracts, supports, and keeps them here.”