The government has issued 1,124 Employment Gold Cards to foreign professionals in the digital field since 2023, with about 60 percent of them being software developers, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday.
Applications for the Employment Gold Card in the digital field ranked fourth among the 12 eligible sectors, making it one of the fastest-growing categories, it said.
Digital service professionals who hold an Employment Gold Card issued by the government are from about 80 countries worldwide, with 37 percent from the Americas, 33 percent from Asia and 26 percent from Europe, Administration for the Digital Industries Deputy Director-General Huang Ya-ping (黃雅萍) said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Web site of the Administration for the Digital Industries
Of the 1,124 foreign professionals, 348 are from the US, followed by 72 from India and 68 from Singapore, Huang said, adding that 60 percent of them specialize in software development.
Other expertise include computer programming (9 percent), digital content production and distribution (9 percent), e-commerce (5 percent), game development (3 percent) and communications and telecommunications (3 percent), she said.
Most Employment Gold Card holders are aged 30 to 40, she said.
The administration also invited three Employment Gold Card holders to talk about how they benefit from the program at a news conference in Taipei, including Alphaswift CEO Shian Lee (李軒) from Malaysia, ALUVA.ai founder Carrie Pederson from the US and Inpixon chief technology officer Jordi Vallejo from Spain.
Google Taiwan human resources head Vannesa Lu (呂亞樵) said that the Employment Gold Card program allows the company to attract international talent to Taiwan, adding that the company has employees from more than 40 countries in Taiwan.
Only a diverse talent pool can build products for everyone, she said.
The Taiwan Employment Gold Card program was first introduced by the National Development Council in 2018. The 12 sectors eligible for the program are technology, economics, education, culture and arts, sports, finance, law, architecture and design, national defense, digital, biotechnology and environment.
The qualifications and rules for Employment Gold Card applications in each sector are determined by the respective overseeing agencies.
The ministry oversees handling Employment Gold Card applications from foreigners working in the digital sector and announced rules of the application in May 2023.
Applicants must fulfill at least one of the requirements, including eight years of relevant experience in the digital economy field; holding a job in the field with a monthly salary of at least NT$160,000 (US$4,986); having a doctorate from one of the top 500 universities in the world; and holding a doctorate and awards recognized by the ministry or four years of relevant professional experience.
An Employment Gold Card combines functions of a work permit, residence permit, alien residence certificate and multiple entry permit. Card holders would not be limited to a single employer, and their spouses and family members can work in Taiwan, access the National Health Insurance system and be granted a residence permit as dependents.
First-time workers coming to Taiwan also enjoy a preferential tax rate, with half-taxation applied to the portion of their salary exceeding NT$3 million during the first five years.
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