Taiwan’s workplace（職場，zhí chǎng）culture is a fascinating blend of traditional Asian values, modern corporate practices, and a dash of uniquely Taiwanese creativity. For international visitors and business partners, this can be both heartwarming, surprising, and sometimes even a bit confusing.
If you are looking to work with Taiwanese companies or expand your business into the country, understanding its cultural nuances is not just a courtesy but also a strategic advantage. This guide offers a window into that world, highlighting customs that define Taiwanese workplaces and showing how to navigate them with confidence.
More Than Just Colleagues
One of the first things newcomers notice is how Taiwanese colleagues （同事，tóngshì）interact. In the West, office relationships can lean toward professionalism with a touch of friendliness; but in Taiwan, the atmosphere often resembles an extended family, where a layer of warmth makes the workplace feel less transactional and more communal.
Group Buying Culture
Few traditions illustrate this togetherness better than tuángòu（團購）, or group buying. On any given day, you’ll see colleagues pooling orders for pastries, seasonal fruit, skincare products, or even appliances. As the Mandarin saying goes, “團結力量大（unity is strength）”, making purchases in large groups can often end up with impressive discounts. These purchases are usually organized through a messenger APP called LINE (you can see it as Taiwan’s version of WhatsApp), where entire office chat groups buzz with links, order lists, and delivery times.
The system is efficient: one “head buyer（團主）” handles logistics, collects money, and distributes items once the order arrives. For an outsider, joining a tuángòu may seem trivial, but it’s actually a social ritual. Saying yes (even just once in a while) signals that you’re willing to be part of the team, while declining every time may unintentionally give the impression of distance. So next time if a Taiwanese colleague pings you an order form, try joining the tuángòu and enjoy the sense of belongingness, and maybe a little bit of discount 😉.
Beverage Ordering: An Extension of Group Buying
If tuángòu is about shared consumption, the daily drink run of bubble tea or coffee is about shared anticipation. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon, someone inevitably asks: “Who wants drinks?” Within minutes, a flurry of requests fills the office:
“Brown sugar bubble tea, half sugar, no ice.”
“Iced Americano, large, no sugar, light ice.”
Taking orders is an exquisite form of art; and whoever volunteers for the run isn’t just fetching drinks, they’re earning goodwill. With seasoned employees memorizing colleagues’ favorite modifications, it can almost be seen as an amicable language between colleagues.
For international visitors, offering to do a drink run (and handling the chaos with good humor) is one of the fastest ways to win colleagues’ trust. After all, what could be more Taiwanese than asking your coworkers ‘would you like bubble or cheezo’?
Wanna learn how to order bubble tea in Mandarin? Check out our bubble tea guide here!
The Art of Gift-Giving
Gift-giving in Taiwan is deeply symbolic and can make or break professional relationships. It’s less about the monetary value and more about the cultural meaning behind the gift. Below are a few tips for international professionals fresh off the boat:
What to Give
Safe options include high-quality items from your home country: artisanal foods, specialty teas or coffee, branded office supplies, or cultural items that showcase your home country. Small but thoughtful gifts often make a bigger impact than lavish ones, and you also get to break the ice by introducing your culture to your colleagues!
What Not to Give
Certain items carry unlucky associations:
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Presentation Matters!
Also worth noticing is you should avoid black or white wrapping. Your business partners or coworkers on the more senior side would appreciate red, gold, or bright-colored packaging, while the younger generation pays less attention to its color but more on the design.
Numbers also matter. Though even numbers are preferred, as they resemble auspicious pairs and completeness, 4 is taboo. The number four （四， sì）shares a homophonic bond with the word ‘death（死， sǐ）’, so make sure you do not send gifts on fours. Amongst the even numbers, eights （八， bā）are the most widely-loved, for it sounds like ‘get rich（發， fā ）’ in Mandarin.
Modern Day Calls for Modern Solution
As culture evolved, the younger generation in Taiwan tends to be less concerned with traditional taboos around gift-giving. If your gift happens to fall into the “forbidden” category, younger professionals are less likely to overthink it, especially if the gesture is thoughtful.
That being said, there’s a clever workaround if you’re worried your recipient might still be sensitive: when presenting the gift, you can jokingly ask the other person for NT$10 (approx. 30 cents in USD). By accepting the coin, the recipient symbolically “purchases” the item from you rather than receiving it as a gift. This small exchange neutralizes any bad luck associated with the object, while also showing cultural awareness and preserving the goodwill behind your gesture. It’s a lighthearted solution that bridges tradition and modern courtesy.
Conclusion and Commencement on the Dining Table
Two of the most anticipated events on the corporate calendar are perhaps the year-end party（尾牙, wěi yá）and the spring banquet （春酒, chūn jiǔ）. Both are lavish affairs that combine feasting, entertainment, and ritual, but they play slightly different roles in workplace culture. While the year-end party closes the year with gratitude, luck, and often a dazzling lottery draw, the spring banquet reopens the cycle, symbolizing fresh beginnings and renewed bonds after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Wrapping Up The Year with 尾牙
Historically, wěi yá was tied to the worship of Tudigong (土地公, the Village Deity). On the 16th day of the 12th lunar month, shop owners would host a feast to thank the deity for prosperity and, by extension, reward their employees. Over time, this ritual evolved into today’s corporate gala: still a celebration of gratitude, but now with karaoke, skits, and a level of extravagance that rivals a wedding banquet.
A typical wěi yá dinner features a 10-course meal at a hotel ballroom or banquet hall, complete with seafood, elaborate soups, and symbolic dishes like whole fish to signify abundance. Alcohol flows freely, and it’s common for managers（主管，zhǔ guǎn）or executives to make rounds at each table, toasting with employees.
Perhaps the most extravagant part of a wěi yá is the mini concerts that some companies host. Corporations often hire pop stars or singers to perform a short set, interact with employees through games, and then depart. The practice has gradually turned into an unspoken competition among major firms: the wealthier the company, the bigger the star they invite. Recruitment websites even publish annual rundowns comparing wěi yá lineups, since the star factor has become a draw for potential employees.
Another highlight of the wěi yá is the highly anticipated lottery draw. Prizes range from everyday appliances to luxury items. The suspense builds as numbers are called, with winners often photographed for internal newsletters or featured on company social media.
One interesting custom is that if a manager, executive or board member happens to win, they are generally expected to forfeit the prize so it can be returned to the pool for another round. The reasoning is simple: the lottery is meant to reward staff loyalty and boost morale before the new year. If the top prizes go to the higher-ups, the effect would be lost. So, if you’re at the manager level and your number comes up, consider handing the prize to your team—it’s part of the spirit of the celebration.
Starting The Year with 春酒
If wěi yá is about closure, chūn jiǔ is about renewal. Held after the Lunar New Year break, spring banquets welcome employees back, re-energize teams, and often serve as a platform for leadership to announce goals and strategies for the year ahead. The atmosphere is slightly more forward-looking, with themes of growth and unity. While the food and festivities resemble wěi yá, chūn jiǔ tends to be of slightly smaller in scale, and some companies even choose skip it. Together, these celebrations embody Taiwan’s balance of tradition and modernity: honoring the past while keeping the workplace vibrant, inclusive, and fun.
Three-Holiday Bonus: Cashing in on Culture
Beyond feasts, Taiwanese employees look forward to the “three-holiday bonus” （三節獎金, sān jié jiǎng jīn）. Companies distribute stipends wrapped in red envelopes on Lunar New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. (Learn more in our red envelope guide!)
Amongst these three bonuses, the Lunar New Year bonus, also known as the year-end bonus (年終, nián zhōng), is the crown jewel. Nián zhōng is often one or two months’ salary, or more in lucrative industries. Its size is a major draw for job seekers, who compare how many “months” are given. Many employees also time their resignations around it, staying long enough to collect the payout and then triggering the annual post-bonus resignation wave.
Balancing Bonds and Business
Taiwan’s workplace culture is a mosaic of rituals, etiquette, and modern twists. Whether it’s a bubble tea order, a symbolic NT$10, or a star-studded 尾牙, each custom reflects a balance of warmth and hierarchy, tradition and innovation.
For international partners, leaning into these nuances smooth transactions and build trust. After all, in Taiwan, business isn’t just about making deals. It’s about making connections that last.
Glossary
- 職場（zhí chǎng）：workplace
- 同事（tóngshì）：Colleague
- 團購 （tuángòu）：Group buying
- 死（sǐ）：Death
- 發（fā）：Get rich
- 春酒（chūn jiǔ）：Spring banquet
- 尾牙（wěi yá）：Year-end party
- 主管（zhǔ guǎn）：manager
- 三節獎金（sān jié jiǎng jīn）：Three-holiday bonus
- 年終（nián zhōng）：Year-end bonus
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