Taiwan headhunters scour US for talent

Industrial headhunters from 14 top companies in Taiwan are in the greater New York area looking for talented people.

Members of the Taiwan mission, led by Minister-without-Portfolio Lin Feng-ching (林逢慶), began interviews in San Francisco on Sept. 9 with professionals and new graduates with backgrounds in science and technology who are interested in working for high-technology companies in Taiwan.

Over the past nine days, Lin said, the Taiwan mission has visited San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, interviewing about 1,400 candidates.

The 14 Taiwan companies -- including big name high-tech companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Hon Hai Precision Industries Co (鴻海精密), Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) -- are offering job opportunities for US-trained individuals in a wide range of fields, including software and hardware design, semiconductors, telecommunications, management, marketing and biotechnology.

Of the interviewees, about 68 percent were people from Taiwan, about 25 percent were US citizens and other foreign nationals, and some 7 percent were Chinese from China, southeast Asia and other areas around the world.

The mission will proceed to Tokyo for the final round of interviews before returning to Taiwan next week.