A Taiwan job bank says it''s removed nearly 3,000 listings for positions based in China. The delisting comes as the Ministry of Labor cracks down on talent poaching from across the strait, by enforcing a preexisting law that prohibits China-based job ads. Violators can be fined up to NT$5 million.

Press search on the website and it''s job listings galore. But what you won''t find is jobs based anywhere in China, except Hong Kong.

To prevent China from poaching Taiwan talent, especially in the semiconductor sector, the labor ministry has ordered job banks to stop advertising positions for non-approved firms based in China. Taiwanese headhunters are also prohibited from working in China. There''s a penalty of up to NT$5 million for those who violate these laws on talent retention. On Wednesday, the labor ministry met with job bank operators to discuss the laws'' enforcement.

Vivi Huang
Job bank spokeswoman
We''re fully cooperating with the government''s policies. One policy is that we are permitted to advertise for government-approved companies, but we cannot do engage in recruitment on their behalf. What we want is for the competent authority to give us more clarity on how that law will be implemented.

In Wednesday''s meeting, the ministry said that job ads were permitted for companies approved by the Investment Commission, but the act of "recruiting" was not. Job bank operators complained that the distinction between the two was unclear. One job bank says it''s removed nearly 3,000 China-based jobs from its website, leaving only positions based in Hong Kong, which is exempt from the ban. One restaurant group with branches in China said that the impact will be minimal.

Lee Cheng-hsin
Restaurant group staff
At this juncture, we are not planning on recruiting staff to send to China. So for now we don''t stand to be affected. Actually just after graduation season, we had a great many vacancies, to support this year''s large-scale expansion. We hope to use our starting salary to attract talent.

The job bank operator says that domestic hiring looks strong for the coming year. According to its data, nearly 80% of companies are recruiting fresh graduates, with a starting wage significantly higher than that of last year. College grads can expect NT$28,838 on average, a 3.53% increase year on year. Master''s degree holders can expect NT$32,282, an increase of 2.59%. Graduates with associate degrees can get NT$27,487, up 2.24%. Amid Taiwan''s economic boom, local employers are loosening their pocketbooks.