Taipei, 22 January – A positive business outlook coupled with increased tourism from China will generate strong recruitment activity in Taiwan, and this is expected to have a further impact on the persisting skills shortage as Taiwanese professionals continue to reside and work outside of Taiwan. This is according to findings in the 2014 ECCT-Michael Page Salary & Employment Forecast for Taiwan, released today. The report, presented in association with the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT), covers an outlook of the domestic recruitment market in 2014.

According to the 2014 ECCT-Michael Page Salary & Employment Forecast for Taiwan, almost half (48%) of the employers surveyed are confident that hiring activity in 2014 will be on the upswing as Taiwan benefits from increased tourism activity and buoyant economic conditions. In addition to the retail industry, support service roles and back office functions can also expect to experience increases in recruitment activity.

"The rise in tourism activity from Mainland China will continue to drive the retail industry creating a healthy flow of jobs and opportunities for professionals with retail and marketing expertise," says Chris Preston, Director of Michael Page in Taiwan. "Concurrent to the spike in retail hiring activity, companies will also be looking to develop and bolster the size of their sales teams, creating added activity in the recruitment landscape," Preston adds.

In addition to increased tourism activity from China, the strong flow of hiring activity will be due to the stabilising global economy. With only 38% of surveyed employers expecting staff turnover in the next 12 months, demonstrating a display of strong company loyalty across the Taiwanese workforce, employment opportunities are likely to take the form of new roles rather than replacement roles.

Key motivating factors that employers think would drive jobseekers to shop around include opportunities to learn (26%) and better work-life balance (21%), and employers are recognising that an increasing emphasis needs to be placed on effective talent management strategies to attract and retain employees.

Employers have also indicated that with the persisting trend of Taiwanese professionals continuing to work outside the country, mainly China, many (41%) are bracing for an extended skills shortage across most professional job types. However, many employers have learnt from the past year and are prepared, with the majority (67%) acknowledging the resulting need to develop more targeted attraction strategies.

"Although employee loyalty is predicted to be strong across the Taiwanese workforce in 2014, employers are recognising the increasing need to communicate the potential of international career opportunities when looking to attract and retain professionals," adds Preston.

The top factor for talent attraction and retention as recognised by employers remains remuneration, with more than three quarters (76%) of employers indicating that salary increases could be expected for all their staff. However, 71% will base increases according to performance. In addition, the top three influencing factors having an impact on salary levels are domestic economic conditions (70%), global economic conditions (48%) and competition with other companies (46%).

About Michael Page and its Salary and Employment Forecast
As part of PageGroup, Michael Page is a worldwide leader in specialist recruitment operating in 153 offices in 34 countries, including Taiwan since 2012. The Michael Page Salary & Employment Forecast is a key recruitment industry report that has been released annually to the market in a number of Asia Pacific countries for more than five years. The report is based on both quantitative and qualitative research, with findings derived via a survey of employers and insights obtained through the business's significant involvement in the professional employment market. The Michael Page Salary & Employment Forecast is currently produced for Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand.

About the ECCT
With over US$32 billion in direct foreign investments, European business remains the largest group of foreign investors in Taiwan. The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan is the only foreign nationwide business chamber in Taiwan and the principle organisation promoting European business interests in Taiwan. The chamber represents over 800 members from over 300 companies and organisations. Through a network of 29 industry and support committees, the ECCT has been successful in addressing specific concerns and providing concrete recommendations to all levels of government to facilitate improving the business environment. The ECCT annually publishes a series of position papers that comprise issues identified by its committees as hindering the further development of their respective industries and provide recommendations to the government of Taiwan for improvement of the business environment on general issues as well as industry-specific problems. They also serve to keep the European Commission, the European Parliament as well as the governments of individual European Union member states informed about Taiwan's business environment.