Taiwan and the State of the Global Workplace

Taiwan has some of the lowest workplace engagement in East Asia: just 13% of employees engaged, well below the regional average of 18% and the global figure of 20%.

And yet Taiwanese workers are thriving. 42% report being in a good place in life overall — above both the East Asian average of 32% and the global average of 34%.

Gallup's 2026 State of the Global Workplace Report captures both figures. I find the gap between them interesting.

My interpretation: for many people here, thriving comes from elsewhere: family, friendships, food, a society that is safe and relatively affordable, a quality of daily life that holds up well by any regional comparison.

Which raises a question for leaders: what becomes possible when work starts contributing to that thriving rather than sitting separately from it?

I have seen this shift happen. A founder I worked with in Taipei genuinely believed he had created an open, approachable environment, different from the traditional high-power distance dynamic. His team, however — smart, capable, Gen Z — were following cultural norms and still keeping a distance, waiting for a clearer invitation to engage. When we explored psychological safety together as a team, the gap became visible. His solution was small but impactful: a traffic light system on his desk. Green means he invites discussion. Red means he's busy. He also stopped waiting for his team to initiate their monthly lunches and started inviting them directly.

A few months later: more ideas surfacing, problems flagged earlier, and a noticeably different energy in the office.

With engagement at 13% and thriving at 42%, the potential here is significant. When leaders invest in psychological safety and build clearer channels for communication, engagement rises — and with it, the creativity, productivity, and energy that make work worth showing up for.

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It is my privilege to support leaders and teams in Taiwan and across Asia in having these kinds of conversations in English and Mandarin 👉 using tools like the Fearless Organization Scan and LEGO® Serious Play® to create the space for something real to surface. ➡️ Excited to announce my new bilingual webpage focused on LSP.