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I'm sure someone in here must have a better idea of the current economic situation in Taiwan than I do and I'm curious about it now. My coworker basically thinks that Ma is systematically destroying the Taiwanese government to force it to unify with China so that he can get the governorship. Now, there's a whole of lot of paranoid crazy packaged in their, but it's entirely possible that pieces of it aren't built in fantasy land. However, when she says things like, "Taiwan is the next Greece," I get a little weary of looking too much deeper into her arguments. If you look at Bloomberg, Taiwan seems to be recovering pretty well right. Unemployment has been trending downwards for years, the GDP is going up, and there's quarter to quarter growth. I'm certainly not an economist, but these seem like positive indicators. I hear rumblings about the collapse of the health care system, a lack of MRT funds, and how people aren't going to get their pensions after 2016, but I want to know how lovely thing actually are (or aren't). The most cogent argument I heard was from a young guy at the gym complaining about how people of his generation graduate from university and only have jobs offering 22,000NT a month. This is of course true, but is it significantly different than how things were 10 years ago?
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Dec 13, 2012 14:59
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Haraksha posted:The most cogent argument I heard was from a young guy at the gym complaining about how people of his generation graduate from university and only have jobs offering 22,000NT a month. This is of course true, but is it significantly different than how things were 10 years ago? I don't know enough about the economy here to really comment on the rest of the stuff you said, however, this part is definitely true from what I've seen. Almost all the people I've met in the mid-20's to early 30's range either don't have a job, or work insane hours for not a lot of money. I don't know if things were much different 10 years ago, but I imagine with the economy doing well people were probably much more optimistic about the direction the country was going. To me it feels like right now the economy has stagnated. At least around here you see a lot of new construction, but when it's finished it all ends up looking mostly empty. I get the feeling that there isn't much new business being brought into the country. Hopefully someone else can chime in on this. I'd be interested to here about things in more detail too. HappyHelmet fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Dec 13, 2012 |
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Dec 13, 2012 15:57
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HappyHelmet posted:I don't know enough about the economy here to really comment on the rest of the stuff you said, however, this part is definitely true from what I've seen. Almost all the people I've met in the mid-20's to early 30's range either don't have a job, or work insane hours for not a lot of money. Bear in mind that the following is anecdotal... It seems to me that the problem is a growing disparity between the wealthy and the poor in Taiwan. Coming out of the military, I saw some colleagues who spent their time playing stocks and wandering around the world on their own dime. On the other hand, I also saw a lot of pretty qualified people with college degrees unable to find a decent job half a year after coming back into civillian life. Flip open a newspaper or turn on the radio. Chances are you'll see a ton of ads for new "luxury developments" promising an aristocratic life for the discerning globetrotting businessman / wannabe socialite who want to use real estate as a low tax investment. Those people really do exist. But there are also tons of people who can't afford to live in Taipei anymore, or hold down jobs that pay a decent wage. I'm lucky, being in academia now. Jobs in the private sector are typically low pay, with long work hours. Even college educated kids have a hard time finding the sort of stable long term career that having a college degree used to guarantee. For a lot of kids in their 20s and 30s the only really stable option around now is the public sector. At the same time you've got tycoons throwing cash and influence around, like that asshat the other day threatening to cut the minimum wage again, and insinuating that people should be grateful for the honor of working for him. Trickle down stuff. Doesn't help that official policy right now is trying to attract back the sort of labor intensive industries that even China doesn't want by cutting labor benefits, the minimum wage, environmental regulations... etc.
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Dec 13, 2012 16:43
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duckfarts posted:For technical writing in general, from my experience, it's something like 50K/month up depending on relevant experience and negotiation with whatever company you're dealing with. Do you normally hire direct from abroad, or do people need to already be local?
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Dec 13, 2012 17:28
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Barracuda Bang! posted:Do you normally hire direct from abroad, or do people need to already be local?
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Dec 13, 2012 17:40
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And has anyone heard anything about Ma investing all of Taiwan's government budget money in the stockmarkets? I'm not having any luck with Google. It all seems so conspiratorial to me. Like, Ma or the government trying to invest certain funds being blown way out of proportion, but I would hate to be wrong on something like that.
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Dec 13, 2012 18:31
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How would an American go about finding and purchasing real-estate in Taiwan? One day I'd like a permanent vacation home somewhere else on the planet, and I think Taiwan should be that place.
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Dec 13, 2012 20:27
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skysedge posted:Bear in mind that the following is anecdotal... Yeah, this is all pretty inline with what I thought was going on here. Might be worth noting that public sector jobs are really loving hard to get here. I knew a guy who was trying to get a state job, and he studied night and day for it (even to the point of going to a cram school). He said that if he wasn't in the 99th percentile on the test they wouldn't even consider him.
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Dec 14, 2012 01:33
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HappyHelmet posted:Yeah, this is all pretty inline with what I thought was going on here. Might be worth noting that public sector jobs are really loving hard to get here. I knew a guy who was trying to get a state job, and he studied night and day for it (even to the point of going to a cram school). He said that if he wasn't in the 99th percentile on the test they wouldn't even consider him. I had some Taiwanese dude randomly come up to me while I was eating at the ShiDa Burger King 2 weeks ago, stuttering out a story that he just failed some civil somethingoranother test or another, and was hoping I'd be able to be his 'sponsor' to help him pass the next one. I must have looked at him like he was crazy, because before I could even say three words he quickly went "ok ok ok I was just asking" as he walked away.
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Dec 14, 2012 03:43
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Taiwan is doing comparatively well. As far as Taiwan being the next Greece, that was on some lovely evening news program. The broadcast was disgusting and dishonest. If I recall correctly the headline over the broadcast read: 希臘化嗎？ which is just plain fear-mongering. Getting slightly worse while other countries are getting hammered is not cause for running around like headless chickens. Numbers Haraksha touched on for others: Unemployment | Growth Some hot-shot analysts have projected Taiwan to have the 3rd highest per-capita income in 2050. That may or may not happen, but the fact that it's in the realm of possibility and is being discussed by heavyweight institutions shows that Taiwan incomes are indeed on the (steep) rise. Does a rising tide lift all boats? Well, sort of, but like skysedge noted, some more than others. From 1990-2006, Taiwan's Gini index rose slightly. The USA's rose by about the same amount. Over the same period, China's has risen far more drastically, starting around the same level as Taiwan in 1990 but breaking 40 for the same time period to 2006, and perhaps nearing 50 now. If anyone has more recent info for Taiwan I'd love to get a link, I couldn't find anything in the past 5 years since the global economy has soured. Speculation: I'd imagine it's nudged higher, but not astronomically so. Interesting to note is the % below poverty line. 1.16% seems to be incredibly optimistic, but if their methodology is sound and they are just generous with what is considered "poverty" then increasing by .26 points on .9% is the real eye popper. That could push the recent Gini index a lot higher and would definitely feed resentment. The healthcare system won't collapse since they actually have the political will to tinker with taxes here for things that need it (  ) even if there is disagreement as to what exactly the best remedy is. For the MRT honestly all I have to go on is hearsay that it's a clusterfuck because of politics and corruption, not because of any fundamental financial instability. If it really were that latter, a fare increase from the already-rock-bottom prices would be an easy fix. Pensions I don't know. As far as only finding low-wage jobs upon graduation, that seems pretty standard, Taiwan has experienced diploma inflation just like other wealthy countries. Westerners with college degrees are having a way harder time finding work, and entry-level is entry-level no matter where you are.From what's available, it seems to me that if people are getting angry about the larger situation (of course individuals will be angry at their job loss/whatever), then it seems to me that they don't understand Taiwan is weathering the downturn pretty well, and poised to really come on strong in the next few decades.
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Dec 14, 2012 05:27
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Thanks! That's exactly the kind of break down I was hoping to get. Have any idea what they were talking about with pensions or Ma gambling on the stock market?
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Dec 14, 2012 05:35
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USDA Choice posted:Does a rising tide lift all boats? Well, sort of, but like skysedge noted, some more than others. From 1990-2006, Taiwan's Gini index rose slightly. The USA's rose by about the same amount. Over the same period, China's has risen far more drastically, starting around the same level as Taiwan in 1990 but breaking 40 for the same time period to 2006, and perhaps nearing 50 now. If anyone has more recent info for Taiwan I'd love to get a link, I couldn't find anything in the past 5 years since the global economy has soured. Speculation: I'd imagine it's nudged higher, but not astronomically so. A non-official survey has it over 60 actually.
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Dec 14, 2012 05:49
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thegoat posted:Everything is 100% except you still have to live in the country for 6 months each year. This has gone to the executive yuan but hasn't passed as a bill. I heard this as well. I'm going to go down ASAP and see how real this is. Edit: On an unrelated note, sushi to go just opened across the street from my place. This is awesome. Spanish Matlock fucked around with this message at 12:25 on Dec 15, 2012 |
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Dec 14, 2012 10:56
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What's the difference between Taipei City and New Taipei City? Google maps points to the same place for both.
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Dec 15, 2012 14:56
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New Taipei City is just the new name for what used to be Taipei County. It's not really a city in the traditional sense so much as it is a donut of all the areas surrounding Taipei City proper.
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Dec 15, 2012 15:05
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POCKET CHOMP posted:New Taipei City is just the new name for what used to be Taipei County. It's not really a city in the traditional sense so much as it is a donut of all the areas surrounding Taipei City proper. Oh. That's quite confusing. So I could accept a job for New Taipei City and find myself out in the sticks?
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Dec 15, 2012 15:10
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It's possible, but a lot of the districts in New Taipei City were sizable cities in their own right before the restructuring. They're Taipei City's suburbs, basically. It all depends on where your job offer is, and a quick glance on Wikipedia should give you a decent idea of what to expect, at least in terms of being in the sticks or not.
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Dec 15, 2012 15:43
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nubdestoryer posted:Oh. That's quite confusing. So I could accept a job for New Taipei City and find myself out in the sticks? Yeah, check which district it is; a lot of the county definitely isn't the sticks at all.
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Dec 15, 2012 16:20
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Echoing them. For example if you're in Linkou you're absolutely screwed, I hope you like getting stared at while drinking alone in a 7-11. Yonghe however is more urban/downtown than many other places that are technically in Taipei City.
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Dec 15, 2012 17:03
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You could get totally lucky and end up in a place like Banqiao that is basically a modern developed city in its own right complete with bars, department stores, a branch of the MRT, and a movie theater. Or you could be in Sanxia. With me.
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Dec 15, 2012 18:57
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Haraksha posted:..Or you could be in Sanxia. With me. Pray you get Banqiao :P
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Dec 16, 2012 19:33
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dtb posted:Pray you get Banqiao :P qft
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Dec 17, 2012 07:54
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I will say that a downside to being in New Taipei is even if you're in a super metropolitan, dense area, you're still likely to be physically pretty far from the MRT. That's just the nature of the Taipei MRT. In Taipei City, you're never more than a few major blocks from an MRT stop, whereas I live in a really dense part of Yonghe and I still have to walk 45 minutes to get to the MRT. It's not really a huge deal, but it does mean you have to learn the bus system or buy a scooter if you wanna get anywhere in any semblance of a hurry. I think that's well worth the price of the way-cheaper rent. I love Yonghe, btw. My GF lives in Shida under the protective auspices of 1000 foreigner-staffed burger joints. It feels like a different country when I go there.
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Dec 17, 2012 14:36
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I'm in Xin Bei Shi and the nearest MRT station is a 20 minute bus ride.
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Dec 17, 2012 16:04
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quadrophrenic posted:I will say that a downside to being in New Taipei is even if you're in a super metropolitan, dense area, you're still likely to be physically pretty far from the MRT. That's just the nature of the Taipei MRT. In Taipei City, you're never more than a few major blocks from an MRT stop, whereas I live in a really dense part of Yonghe and I still have to walk 45 minutes to get to the MRT. Kinda miss the place 
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Dec 17, 2012 17:14
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I got offered contracts at Hess and Shanes, one wanted me to work six days a week, the other offered a split weekend. gently caress that. I applied for almost every job listed on tealits, hopefully something better will come along, although I get the feeling that website is more aimed at people already in Taiwan.
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Dec 17, 2012 18:34
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6 day work week is kind of the norm around here. FWIW, I love my Saturday class. It's one low-stress 2-hour class at 10:30 to noon, then you have the rest of the day. edit: and the only classes Hess offers on Saturday are budget buxiban classes, which tend to be less stressful as a rule than the pricier ESL and Kindy classes during the week. I don't have a lot of glowing things to say about Hess right now in the thick of the Christmas season, but considering you'd narrowly escape all the stupid bullshit they run you through for Christmas, I'd say consider going with Hess, honestly. quadrophrenic fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Dec 18, 2012 |
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Dec 18, 2012 00:35
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Yeah, you can thank your lucky stars if you're starting out with no Saturday class. If you have a good class it can be fun. But when you need to do make-ups at 5 PM...
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Dec 18, 2012 00:43
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ignore me
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Dec 18, 2012 00:44
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GoutPatrol posted:If you have a good class it can be fun. Step Ahead 14, aka "shootin' the poo poo with teens". My Saturday class feels like a vacation.
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Dec 18, 2012 00:45
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I have never had a weekend class other than the lovely make up classes. If possible I would wait until arriving in Taiwan to get a job.
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Dec 18, 2012 01:36
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quadrophrenic posted:Step Ahead 14, aka "shootin' the poo poo with teens". My Saturday class feels like a vacation. My awesome class graduated last month and now I'm back with the young crazies.
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Dec 18, 2012 01:42
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GoutPatrol posted:My awesome class graduated last month and now I'm back with the young crazies. Classes graduate? After SA16, there are 4 levels of focus (each 3 months), then 4 more levels of something else (another 3 months each). I'm teaching one that is at the last level of that, with only a few classes left. They're all 14/15 years old, and I've taught some of them off and on for like 4 years now. Topics have been from nude body painting, millionaires and their toys, Drew Barrymore and her crazy youth, including posing for Playboy, graffiti, being an eco-terrorist... lots of things that are semi-awkward if the class isn't cool. Now that they're hitting the literal end of classes though, we've gone into uncharted waters. The parents still want the kids to attend English class, but there is no prescribed English course for them. So the school asked me to make up a course based on something that I like, that is English based. So I'll be teaching some Tolkein/D&D inspired Fantasy Story Creation class of my own devising. It'll include art components as kids sketch out and draw up maps, name various locations, place various monstrous critters within them, writeup descriptive paragraphs of the interesting bits within, make up their own monsters to be placed within, and finally come up with some story that occurs within their drawn up area. I'll make a 'textbook' cobbled together from various D&D books, like a stripped down section from the Monstrous Manual, sections from The Worldbuilder's Guidebook on map creation, and sample maps from Tolkein, and other famous maps. I presented the basic idea of this to them on Friday, and they were quite receptive and interested.
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Dec 18, 2012 03:45
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Ravendas posted:Classes graduate? Please tell me you are doing all this prep on school time and being paid for it.
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Dec 18, 2012 04:38
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quadrophrenic posted:6 day work week is kind of the norm around here. For a first job in Taiwan it is very common to have to work Saturdays here. The upshot is that while you work through that contract you can find yourself a much nicer job for your 2nd year should you choose to stay.
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Dec 18, 2012 04:46
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No Saturdays here. 
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Dec 18, 2012 05:14
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thegoat posted:Please tell me you are doing all this prep on school time and being paid for it. Office hours are like 350nt an hour or something? Yeah, I got office hours for making up ESL science courses, I'll get office hours for preparing this stuff. Edit: My first school had Saturday classes from 9am to 6pm, with an hour break in there somewhere, that I taught every weekend. I had like Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays off, so I never had a full weekend ever. At Hess though, no Saturdays, and only 2 hours on Tuesday.
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Dec 18, 2012 05:27
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Ravendas posted:Classes graduate? Express. Some of the Focus stuff was really hit or miss. Express was better but it got pretty tough for them, maybe it would be different in Taipei but in Tainan their English skills were usually not so good. Focus on Clothes is easily the worst, though. The kids were always super bored, and who can blame them when faced with unit after unit of thrilling vocabulary like "sleeve" and "hanger." Also, those cringeworthy units with the songs for the reading section in Focus. I took a class over a class after they "graduated" from SA16 and taught them all through Focus and Express. By far my favorite class ever and my most memorable. When they finished Express there were only a few planning to continue, so we folded them into an essay writing class that I wasn't teaching.
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Dec 18, 2012 05:37
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POCKET CHOMP posted:Express. Some of the Focus stuff was really hit or miss. Express was better but it got pretty tough for them, maybe it would be different in Taipei but in Tainan their English skills were usually not so good. Yeah, those classes start to run out of kids, that's why there are so few of them. They hit middleschool and half the students drop. I had a Focus class of 16 kids slowly drop down to 8 by the time they hit Express 3, which they combined with a class that just got out of Focus4 to continue on with 16 kids. The focus/express classes can go out of order, as there isn't any buildup of grammar, just new topics. So now I'm continuing on with this group into a class I'm making up which is basically a D&D World Creation fantasy writing/art class. The only other Focus class that's currently running has gone from ~18 kids at Focus 1 to 5 kids at Focus 3. Not sure why it lost so many students besides having a green teacher that perhaps they didn't click with. It's too bad because before they entered Focus, they were my students, and were a great bunch. Now they've all fled.
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Dec 18, 2012 06:20
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Ravendas posted:Classes graduate? I mean the class finished 16 and my school hasn't started the next level class yet. Because it has been 2 months, some of the kids have moved to other schools. Out of that class of 14, I think only 3 are coming back once that starts, and I may not be teaching it because they can't decide when they want to have the class in the first place. Kinda sucks. At least the ones that are staying were some of the best. I have one class that at its biggest had 21 kids, then once a new CT came on, half the class left, and (hopefully) next level when it is down to 6 kids they will end it. The real problem kids should be gone by the time I come back from the US. I know that staying at HESS for a long time can be considered a bad move, but if I can just get rid of that class, I wouldn't have any complaints.
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Dec 18, 2012 07:16
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