Cho's experience is increasingly familiar to many people seeking employment in a wide range of areas, whether full-time or part-time, because of the increasing number of job banks in Taiwan. There are approximately 100 such companies islandwide, most of which are small operations, according to a Dec. 8 news report released by online newspaper DigiTimes.com. Some job banks need only a computer, a fax machine, a telephone line and a couple of staff members as basic requirements to start operations, said the report, adding that only about 15 to 20 local companies operate on a larger scale. Among these, the 104 Job Bank and 1111 Job Bank Web sites, founded by 104 Corp. and Chinese Global Internet Technology Co. Ltd. respectively, are currently the most popular channels through which enterprises recruit employees and job seekers find a satisfactory position.
Prior to the emergence of the job Web sites, the channels most commonly used were traditional employment service agencies, which were typically run by newspaper companies. These agencies usually charged companies high fees to publish employment ads. The China Times and the United Daily were the two leading media companies and also the primary employment service agencies on the island. Companies had to spend around US$300 for a 5-centimeter-square employment ad in the newspapers' classified section monthly, and this sum guaranteed only the advertising space; it did not in the least ensure that the right person for the job would be found. As for the job seekers, they could rely only on luck as they poured over newspaper classifieds and sent out numerous résumés.
Thanks to the Internet, companies seeking new blood can now find, for a relatively low cost, a wide range of job-bank services, such as the provision of regular updates regarding qualified applicants, recruitment of high-ranking or specialized talent and offers to provide outsourced employees.
Ryan Wu, 1111 Job Bank vice general manager, recalled how the enterprise got off the ground. "In keeping with government policy at the time, 15 years ago we started as a company in charge of recruiting foreign labor from Southeast Asian countries to work as caregivers in Taiwan," said Wu. Having profited from this venture, the company turned its attention to local labor and eight years ago began offering a job-matching service, he said. With the aim of benefiting the nation's job seekers and enterprises, the company set about providing quality innovative services to users of its 2.4-million-item database, said Wu. "Audio-visual resumes and long-distance interviews, for example, are two of our significant innovations," he noted.
Through the audio-visual resume service, companies can see the employees and observe how they express themselves, which could help in the process of finding the right employee. In addition, the 1111 Web site provides a platform for companies to interview employees via a Web camera. This allows job seekers more opportunities to be interviewed by different companies in various locations. "These original and customized services won us a good reputation among companies as well as applicants," claimed Wu.
Before the launch of the 1111 Web site, 104 Corp., the leading company, established by Rocky Yang in 1996, was already offering employment-matching services, based on the founder's vision that the Internet could revolutionize many industries, said 104 PR Manager Max Fang. After resigning as general manger at an Internet company, Yang turned his attention to the Internet as a convenient, low-cost, competitive vehicle for employee recruitment among local enterprises, Fang said. Yang's emphasis was on "catering to both job seekers and providers by offering a wide range of customized services, such as competence tests, career mapping, talent headhunting and automatic matching."
On account of a quickly established positive image, 104 Corp. reached a break-even point the year after it was established. On Feb. 17, it became the first and, to date, the only local company of its kind to go public. Its share price soared for months, Fang claimed. The company, which now employs a staff of 520, pulled in US$29.1 million in revenue and showed a profit of US$9 million last year.
Wu expressed concern, however, based on his observations over recent years, that Taiwan might be losing its competitive manpower edge.
"Judging from the decreasing number of job offers on the island this year, I can't help but worry that Taiwan's competitiveness might be declining in the global arena," said Wu, who attributed the situation to a series of educational reforms in recent years. "While wholeheartedly seeking to boost the nation's economy, the government should also pay more attention to the fundamental educational issues that are vital to the future of a country," he asserted.
Fang, on the other hand, had a more positive outlook, citing a survey conducted by the 104 Web site, which analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan's manpower as compared to China, which has lured massive investment capital from every corner of the world. "Taiwanese still stand out in some categories, such as professional capability, management skills and work experience," he said, noting that globalization has led to a phenomenon of the circulation of talent across national boundaries. "It's still early to judge whether a large number of Taiwanese working in China is good or bad for the island," he said. "Whether Taiwan maintains its competitiveness, time will tell."