How to hire in Taiwan
In Taiwan the role behind "sales executive" is the 業務 — the frontline salesperson who owns accounts and carries the number, listed on job boards as 國內業務 for the domestic market and 國外業務 for export. This guide covers what the role pays here, which industries buy most of the talent, and the work-permit routes if your best candidate is not local.
What it pays
Salaries in Taiwan are quoted monthly in NT$, and the published bands are base only — commission sits on top and varies by industry more than the base does. The other big lever is the step up to 業務主管: the manager title moves the band well clear of the rep ladder, so decide which one you are actually hiring before you set the budget.
| Benchmark | Taiwan pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sales executive (國內業務), under 1 year | NT$35,000 – NT$50,000 a month | 104 salary data, updated 10 August 2026 |
| Sales executive (國內業務), 3–5 years | NT$40,000 – NT$60,000 a month | 104 salary data, updated 10 August 2026 |
| Sales executive (國內業務), 10+ years | NT$42,000 – NT$63,000 a month | 104 salary data, updated 10 August 2026 |
| Export sales (國外業務), 3–5 years | NT$42,000 – NT$60,000 a month | 104 salary data, updated 10 August 2026 |
| Sales manager (國內業務主管), 10+ years | NT$54,000 – NT$90,000 a month | 104 salary data, updated 10 August 2026 |
| Employer statutory on-costs, on top of salary | 6% pension, plus 70% of a 12.5% labour and employment insurance premium | Bureau of Labor Insurance, Ministry of Labor |
Figures checked August 2026. The role bands are the P25–P75 range of monthly base salary from 104's employer-reported data — 15,284 valid samples for the domestic sales title, 4,560 for export sales and 5,007 for sales managers, all updated 10 August 2026. Read them as base only: commission is where sales pay actually diverges, and live 104 ads for the same title run from fixed monthly salaries to pure commission (論件計酬) in property sales. On top of salary, the Bureau of Labor Insurance puts the labour insurance premium at 11.5% plus 1% employment insurance from January 2025, with the employer paying 70%, and the Labor Pension Act sets the employer pension contribution at no less than 6% of monthly wage — an employer share of National Health Insurance sits on top of that.
Where the talent sits
On 104's August 2026 industry data, wholesale, retail and distribution employers post 8,988 domestic sales openings at an average of NT$50,000 a month — the biggest single block of sales hiring on the island. This is where the classic account-carrying 業務 career starts, and where most of the pool has worked at some point.
Electronics, software and semiconductor employers post 7,363 domestic sales openings at an average of NT$56,000 a month, on a NT$45,000 – NT$65,000 band — the highest-paying cluster on 104's August 2026 data. Component and equipment sales into the supply chain is technical, relationship-heavy work, and people who can do it rarely apply anywhere.
General manufacturers post 5,232 domestic sales openings at about NT$51,000 a month, and construction and real estate employers another 5,098 at about NT$50,000, per 104's August 2026 data. Property sales is also where commission-only pay structures are most common, so headline bases here understate what the strong performers actually take home.
Financial and insurance employers post 2,395 domestic sales openings at an average of NT$56,000 a month on 104's August 2026 data, matching the tech cluster's average. Insurance runs one of Taiwan's largest commissioned salesforces, and people trained in it are used to quota discipline — and to being paid for it.
Export sales is its own title on 104, with 4,560 salary samples as of 10 August 2026 and a band a step above the domestic ladder — NT$42,000 – NT$60,000 a month at three to five years. These are the bilingual salespeople running overseas accounts and trade-show pipelines for Taiwan's exporters, and they are the pool to search if the territory is not Mandarin-speaking.
Work permits
Almost all sales hires in Taiwan are local — the job is done in Mandarin and runs on long-held customer relationships, so foreign candidates are rare outside export desks and international accounts. If you do find one, these are the routes.
Taiwanese nationals, permanent residents and Employment Gold Card holders can start without any application from you. Ask this in the first call — a candidate holding a Gold Card or an APRC changes your timeline from months to days.
The standard route: you as the employer apply to the Workforce Development Agency under the Ministry of Labor. The foreign professional's average monthly salary must be no less than NT$47,971, and the qualification pathways include a master's degree, a bachelor's degree with two or more years of related experience, or five or more years of specialised skill. Source: EZ Work Taiwan (Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor) specialised and technical work page, read August 2026.
A combined open work permit, residence permit and visa for skilled professionals, valid for up to three years, and the holder can work for any employer — the candidate applies for it themselves, no job offer required. The scheme covers eleven fields including economy and finance, and the Gold Card Office reports 8,973 valid cards held by professionals from 114 countries. Source: Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office site, read August 2026.
Foreign professionals who reach permanent residency keep open work rights — the Gold Card Office confirms the open work permit not bound to any employer is unaffected after converting to an APRC. Gold Card holders qualify after holding the card and staying in Taiwan for three consecutive years, averaging 183 days or more a year. Source: Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office FAQ, read August 2026.
These pages were read in August 2026 and the schemes do change — thresholds and qualification pathways get revised. Check ezworktaiwan.wda.gov.tw and goldcard.nat.gov.tw before relying on any of this, and take proper advice for a specific case — this is background, not legal advice.
How to run the search
The market's titles are 國內業務, 國外業務 and 業務主管, and 104 prices each one separately. An English-only "sales executive" ad reads as a foreign company's junior role and pulls the wrong pool. Use the local title, and name the industry — sales skill in Taiwan is priced by what you sell, not just how long you have sold.
The published bands are base only, and structures in the market run from full salary to pure commission in the same job category. A candidate from insurance or property reads a NT$50,000 base very differently from one leaving a fixed-salary manufacturer. State the split and the realistic on-target number in the ad, or every offer conversation restarts from zero.
The salespeople you want are carrying someone else's quota and not reading job boards. Talent Summoner searches public professional profiles across the open market and ranks them against your brief, so you start from people who fit rather than people who applied.
Taiwanese B2B runs on relationships built over years — the value of a senior 業務 is the accounts that answer their calls. Ask what they sold, to whom, on what cycle, and what happens to those accounts when they move. A polished interview with no transferable territory is the most expensive kind of sales hire.
A large share of Taiwanese sales pay lands as the year-end bonus before Lunar New Year, with commission reconciliations alongside. Candidates time their moves around it: expect the strongest pipeline just after the holiday, and expect to price a buy-out into any offer made just before it.
FAQ
Per 104's salary data updated 10 August 2026, the P25–P75 monthly base band for a domestic sales executive (國內業務) runs NT$35,000 – NT$50,000 under one year of experience, NT$40,000 – NT$60,000 at three to five years, and NT$42,000 – NT$63,000 beyond ten years. Export sales (國外業務) runs a step higher at NT$42,000 – NT$60,000 at three to five years, and a sales manager (國內業務主管) with ten or more years sits at NT$54,000 – NT$90,000. All of these are base — commission comes on top.
業務 is the standard Taiwanese title for a salesperson — what English-language ads call a sales executive or sales representative. Job boards split it into 國內業務 (domestic sales), 國外業務 (export sales) and 業務主管 (sales manager or supervisor), and 104 publishes separate salary data for each. If you advertise in English only, you are invisible to most of this pool.
Per the Bureau of Labor Insurance, the labour insurance premium rate is 12.5% from January 2025 — 11.5% plus a 1% employment insurance rate — and the employer pays 70% of it, with the employee paying 20% and the government 10%. The Labor Pension Act separately requires the employer to contribute no less than 6% of each worker's monthly wage to their pension account, and an employer share of National Health Insurance applies on top.
Yes, though it is uncommon outside export and international-account roles, because domestic sales runs in Mandarin. You can sponsor a work permit through the Workforce Development Agency — the salary must average at least NT$47,971 a month and the candidate needs a qualifying degree or five or more years of specialised experience. Alternatively the candidate may hold an Employment Gold Card, an open work permit valid up to three years that lets them work for any employer, and APRC holders — permanent residents — need nothing from you at all.
By volume, wholesale, retail and distribution — 8,988 domestic sales openings on 104 as of August 2026, averaging NT$50,000 a month. By price, electronics, software and semiconductor employers, with 7,363 openings at an average of NT$56,000, matched by finance and insurance at NT$56,000 across 2,395 openings. Manufacturing and property sit in between, at roughly NT$50,000 – NT$51,000 across more than 10,000 openings combined.
Hiring guides
Verified Taiwan pay bands, the Hsinchu premium, and the work-permit routes — checked August 2026.
→Verified NT$ pay bands, the Hsinchu–Taipei talent split, and the work-permit routes that matter.
→Pay bands, the industrial-versus-UX title split, and the visa routes that matter in Taiwan.
→Verified Taiwan pay bands, the senior-analyst shortage, and the work-permit routes — checked August 2026.
→Verified Taiwan pay bands, the specialist-to-director ladder, and the work-permit routes — checked August 2026.
→Verified Taiwan pay bands, the CPA-track premium, statutory on-costs, and where trained accountants actually sit.
→Verified Taiwan pay bands, the Taipei-centred pool, and the work-permit routes — checked August 2026.
→What the role pays in Taiwan, where the experienced people sit, and the permit routes.
→What operations managers earn across Taipei, Hsinchu and Taichung, and the statutory costs on top.
→Describe the sales role in plain English — industry, territory, languages. Get candidates from the open Taiwan market, ranked against your brief, with the reasoning shown.
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