The Development of HRM Practices in Taiwan

Small and medium-sized, mostly family-owned, enterprises employ more than 60 per cent of paid employees in Taiwan; however, these enterprises traditionally do not have distinct human resource management functions. In contrast, state-owned and large-sized private enterprises have gradually established their human resource systems and learned HRM techniques from foreign-owned companies. The article first examines employment structure and labour market development in Taiwan, then evaluates employment legislation and the development of HRM functions, and finally identifies several major future challenges, such as employee participation and employment security.