In the midst of the ongoing wave of layoffs in the Silicon Valley tech industry, the first Taiwan Career Day 2026 was held with great success at the Santa Clara Convention Center on April 25th. The event brought together 27 Taiwan-American tech companies and startups, over 40 speakers, industry leaders, and elite mentors, attracting over a thousand tech talents and international students from across the United States.
Organized by Taiwan Next Foundation and strongly supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Rising Management, and Talent Taiwan, the event aimed to facilitate bi-directional talent exchange between Taiwan and the U.S. companies. It provided comprehensive job-seeking resources ranging from career strategy planning to AI practical exercises for tech talents. Participants traveled from locations such as Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Texas, Taiwan, and Canada to attend.
Katie Hsieh, the founder and CEO of Taiwan Next Foundation, expressed that the mission of Taiwan Next is to build a strong bridge between Taiwan-American companies and talents. Particularly in the era where AI is rapidly changing the world, proactive measures are needed to assist talents and companies in facing challenges.
As per statistics from Layoffs.fyi, over 92,000 tech professionals in the U.S. have been laid off in 2026 so far. Many economists and industry experts are concerned that a tech employment crisis may be imminent.
However, among the exhibiting companies on that day, about one-third were top global enterprises including Foxconn, Wistron, Ambarella, Lite-On, Quanta, MediaTek, TSMC, Delta Electronics, Pegatron, and Cooler Master, offering various job vacancies in software, hardware, and more. Job seekers had the opportunity to directly interact with HR professionals and decision-makers, reducing the waiting time after submitting resumes.
In an interview with the media, Katie Hsieh mentioned that organizing a job fair amidst the AI layoff wave was not easy. She pointed out that the team had actively reached out to many U.S.-Taiwanese companies since the end of last year, initially facing challenges in their efforts. With the assistance of TAITRA, Talent Taiwan, and the Taiwanese leading headhunting company Rising Management, they eventually succeeded in inviting several international giants to participate.
In her speech, San Francisco TAITRA Director Meichi Liu stated that TAITRA continues to promote the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ “Contact Taiwan” initiative to assist Taiwan companies in connecting with international talents. She shared Taiwan’s economic growth data indicating a GDP growth rate of around 8.7% in 2025, reaching a 15-year high, increasing the urgency for talents in Taiwan.
Meichi Liu further explained in the interview that TAITRA’s main functions include assisting Taiwan products in expanding global markets and attracting international talents to Taiwan. Therefore, relevant talent recruitment activities are organized each year. The “Contact Taiwan” platform currently has around 2,000 Taiwan companies offering job vacancies. She highlighted the growing talent gap in the industry amid the era of AI, and the enthusiastic response from the sector towards this event.
Liao Bingkun, the Executive Director of Talent Taiwan Office, emphasized in his speech that the current time is a golden opportunity for tech talents to join Taiwan-American companies. By offering diverse visa options and comprehensive support through the “International Talent Taiwan Office,” various elites are encouraged to seize opportunities and take the lead in the AI wave.
Chiang Tsung-yun, the General Manager of Rising Management Consulting Group in Taiwan, stated in her speech that Rising Management assists thousands of job seekers each year in grasping global career opportunities and enhancing their professional development. This year alone, Taiwan companies are expected to release tens of thousands of job opportunities in high-tech, logistics, supply chain, service, and construction fields. She pointed out the significant advantages that Taiwan companies offer to local talents.
She mentioned focusing on two main aspects: assisting Taiwanese tech manufacturing and semiconductor companies expanding to the U.S., and sourcing top talents in software, AI, and IC design fields for Taiwan’s advanced industries. Through this recruitment fair, they hope to connect with more high-level professionals and attract them to Taiwan for development.
Danielle Gride, the HR Manager at Foxconn Technology Group, traveled from Indiana to participate in the recruitment fair. She emphasized the company’s emphasis on individuals who can integrate into the corporate culture, demonstrate innovation, and are willing to commit to long-term development. Foxconn’s recruitment primarily targeted engineering-related positions such as electrical, mechanical, manufacturing engineers, as well as project managers and testing engineers.
She noted that the company is establishing an AI center dedicated to AI research and technology development, hence their focus on recruiting related talents through this fair. Another colleague from Houston joined her, assisting with on-site recruitment and HR consultations.
Wistron dispatched an 8-person recruitment team from Taiwan for the event. Wang Yansheng, the Mechanical Supervisor at Wistron, mentioned the company’s active recruitment of mechanical, hardware, and R&D talents in the U.S. Regardless of experience or background, as long as applicants have English proficiency and passion for the AI server industry, they are welcomed to join.
Hu Wen-Wen, the Deputy General Manager of Wistron’s HR, mentioned the high demand for talents in Silicon Valley and Dallas, mainly due to the construction of AI data centers and the growing need for AI hardware acceleration. Hardware engineering positions form the primary job openings, including software engineers, BIOS, BMC, thermal engineering, industrial engineering, process engineering, and SMT engineers.
The overwhelming turnout and quality of talents at the event were pleasantly surprising, according to Hu. Many job seekers showed a high level of interest in Wistron’s business and AI industry development. Wang added that Wistron closely collaborates with NVIDIA and urgently requires more R&D talents to assist in AI server development, enhance yield rate, and accelerate market deployment.
Apart from the gathering of tech giants for recruitment, another highlight of the event was inviting over 30 Taiwanese elite mentors from top companies like Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, and Tesla to provide one-on-one career counseling for job seekers.
Furthermore, the event featured AI industry executives and headhunters analyzing the latest recruitment trends. Renowned career coach in Silicon Valley, Ginger Tsun, conducted a job training session complemented by MirWork’s AI simulated interview technology. The comprehensive program covered resume optimization, interview strategies, logical expression, and speech speed training, aiming to enhance the job seekers’ competitiveness in interviews.