Record number of Taiwanese join U.S. workforce in 2023: DGBAS

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) on Thursday revealed that a record number of Taiwan nationals went to the United States to work in 2023.

DGBAS said approximately 128,000 people took jobs in the U.S. in 2023, which deputy director Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲) of the directorate's Census Department attributed primarily to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) factory in the U.S. state of Arizona.

Tan also revealed that 2023 saw a high number of workers take advantage of work opportunities in Japan, citing TSMC's new fab in Kumamoto as the main drive for the exodus.

Meanwhile, DGBAS said the number of nationals working in China fell slightly, continuing a gradual decline.

The directorate noted that the proportion of Taiwanese working in China, including Hong Kong and Macau, dropped from 62.2 percent of Taiwanese working overseas in 2011 to 35 percent of the expat population in 2023, attributing the decrease to such factors as increases in costs and a renewed focus on Taiwan by local investors.

Tan went on to add that the weak Chinese economy and increased international concerns over Beijing are also reasons Taiwan nationals have opted to work in other countries.

The DGBAS's Thursday statistics on overseas work patterns also revealed that in the decade from 2009 to 2019, the number of Taiwanese leaving to seek job opportunities overseas climbed from around 662,000 to about 739,000.

The directorate said the number only started to fall in 2020 with various factors coming into play, including trade disputes between the U.S. and China. Changes in the supply chain and the COVID-19 pandemic saw the number of nationals leaving Taiwan for work fall to about 319,000 by 2021.

The DGBAS said the numbers only began to increase again in 2022 and 2023 following the easing of restrictions post-COVID-19, with a 148,000 increase to around 621,000 in 2023.

In addition to the 128,000 workers who went to work in the U.S., roughly 217,000 left for China, while 92,000 went to Southeast Asia and 68,000 took up positions in Japan or South Korea.