On September 1, 2026, Taiwanese media outlet China Times News reported that the offered annual salary for artificial intelligence (AI) engineers being recruited in Japan was too low, and this had become a hot topic on Taiwanese social media.

The article introduced AI engineer job postings for positions in Osaka Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture (remote work possible) that were posted online. It stated that the job responsibilities included AI and data analysis, generative AI platform development, big data analysis, and facial recognition model development, and that the company also had a track record of hiring foreign nationals with just one interview. It then reported that the offered annual salary was 3 million to 5.5 million yen (approximately 590,000 to 1.08 million New Taiwan Dollars).

It then mentioned that "Tech Job N Talk," a popular Taiwanese technology-related Facebook page, quoted this job posting and introduced it with a touch of irony, saying, "The salaries offered by Japanese companies have more humor than those offered by Taiwanese people." It also stated that the page pointed out, "Coupled with the ongoing historical depreciation of the yen, the salary levels offered by Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises largely lack competitiveness compared to Taiwan's IT and high-tech industries."

According to the article, in response to this post, Taiwanese netizens made a series of critical comments such as, "It's lower than the salaries at Taiwanese hardware contract manufacturers," "Japanese annual salaries are generally like this. It's because the yen has depreciated too much," and "Since remote work seems possible, it would be better to work from Taiwan and outsource it to (cheap) India."

On the other hand, it also reported that some positive opinions were observed, such as, "It's not bad for new graduates who want to work in Japan," and "This job opening is probably for people without special experience who want to stay in Japan and obtain a work visa. The company doesn't expect much, and it works out if applicants don't expect too much either." (Edited and translated by Kawajiri)