How do companies find talent? Free channels, 104, and recruitment agencies compared
Companies look for talent at three main levels. Free channels (employee referrals, social media, government employment service centers) suit situations with a limited budget and plenty of time. Job sites (such as 104, a Taiwanese job site) are the most common paid posting channel and suit openings attractive enough that applicants come in on their own. Recruitment outsourcing firms charge only on success and suit hard-to-fill roles, stretched HR teams, or cases where you need to proactively reach passive candidates. You can use all three at once; it isn't either-or.
1What channels can companies use to find talent? An overview
Corporate hiring can roughly be divided into three levels:
- Free channels: employee referrals, company website/social media posts, public employment service centers and employment service platforms
- Paid posting channels: job boards such as 104 (a Taiwanese job site), and social recruiting ads on LinkedIn and similar platforms
- Use a specialist provider: a recruiting agency (outsourced recruitment), a headhunter (senior and confidential roles), or a staffing agency (short-term, or when you're not yet sure you need someone long-term)
These three tiers aren't mutually exclusive: many companies combine employee referrals with job bank postings, then hand hard-to-fill roles to a recruitment agency. How to choose mainly comes down to three variables: how hard the role is to fill, whether HR has time, and whether you need to reach passive candidates.
2Free channels: internal referrals, social media and government employment services
Employee referrals: having current employees refer friends or former colleagues. This is usually the cheapest channel, and retention after hire is decent; the downside is that reach is limited to employees' networks, so it struggles when you have many openings or need special skills.
Company website and social media posts: post jobs on your company website, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and similar platforms. The cost is staff time rather than cash. This suits companies whose employer brand is already fairly well known and whose followers are themselves target customers or potential hires.
Government employment service centers / Taiwan Jobs: a free job-matching platform run by the Workforce Development Agency of Taiwan's Ministry of Labor, where companies can post openings for free. The advantage is zero cost; the drawback is that the applicant pool skews toward certain groups and may not cover every job type and level.
The shared limitation of free channels is that you can only wait for people to apply; you can't proactively reach passive candidates who fit but aren't job hunting. That's the problem the paid channels and commissioned services below are meant to solve.
3Job sites (such as 104, a Taiwanese job site): how to use them and when they fit
104 (a Taiwanese job site) is one of the most widely used job boards in Taiwan: companies pay to post openings, job seekers apply on their own, and HR screens and schedules interviews itself. The strengths of this kind of platform are wide reach, a mature interface, and full control for the employer. The downside is that all the labor of screening and contacting candidates falls on HR: with a high volume of résumés, screening takes time, and many qualified applicants never respond. The posting prices each platform publishes are summarized in the next section.
Job banks work well when the role itself is attractive enough (competitive pay, location, and industry) and HR has time to screen and contact applicants. If the same posting has run for a long time without being filled, or HR is already stretched thin, it may be a sign you need the next level of help.
Do job sites charge for postings? Comparing 104, 1111 and LinkedIn costs
Yes. Posting jobs on the major job sites usually costs money: 104's officially published list price for a standard posting is NT$4,600 for 30 days, with a first-purchase discount for new customers; 1111's officially published monthly plan is NT$4,200 for 30 days; LinkedIn lets you post 1 job for free, but reaching more people requires paid promotion. The table below summarizes the official information available for each platform (accessed 2026-10-19):
| Platform | How fees work | Officially published prices |
|---|---|---|
| 104 Job Bank (a Taiwanese job site) | Pay by number of days posted | Regular price: 30 days NT$4,600, 60 days NT$7,500, 90 days NT$9,200, 180 days NT$17,300, 365 days NT$34,500. First purchase for new customers: one job posting for 30 days at NT$888 (offer valid until 2026-10-30, limited to one first purchase) |
| 1111 Job Bank | Pay by posting period; can be paused | Official published prices (tax included): 30 days monthly NT$4,200, 60 days bimonthly NT$6,600, 90 days quarterly NT$8,400, 180 days semiannual NT$15,750, 365 days annual NT$26,250 (recruitment agencies, staffing firms and similar businesses must contact customer service separately) |
| Free posting + paid promotion | You can post 1 job at a time for free; paid promotion is set by daily or total budget and charged per click, with the actual cost shown at the time of posting |
Platform prices often include limited-time promotions; before purchasing, please check each platform's official website or a sales quote.
What does finding talent cost? Every channel at a glance
| Channels | How costs are calculated | When you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Free channels (employee referrals, social media, Taiwan Jobs) | No cash cost; the cost is staff time. Referral bonuses, if paid, are extra | — |
| Job board postings | Pay by number of posting days or by plan | Paid before posting, no refund if you don't find anyone |
| Recruiting agency / headhunter | Calculated on the employee's monthly or annual salary, with a legal cap on fees | Mostly after the candidate starts |
| Staffing | Pay monthly: worker's salary + statutory employer costs + management fee | Monthly, for as long as you use them |
Put simply, job ads mean "paying upfront to buy exposure," while outsourced recruitment and headhunting mean "paying only when someone starts, to buy a result". If the role is easy to fill, posting an ad is cheapest; if an ad has run for a long time without a hire, outsourcing can actually work out cheaper once you count the HR time spent. For a full calculation of hiring costs, see How to Calculate Recruiting Costs; for a breakdown of staffing costs, see How Are Staffing Costs Calculated?.
4Recruiting agencies: how to use them and when they fit
Recruiting services (contingency recruitment) means a company pays a consulting firm to find, screen, and schedule interviews with candidates on its behalf; once hired, the employee is the company's own permanent staff. Most firms use a success-based fee, charged only when the candidate starts work. At Step1ne, fees start at roughly 1.5 months' salary on average (actual terms depend on the role and the contract), and Taiwan's regulations also set a fee cap. For a full explanation of fees, process, and how it differs from executive search, see What is a recruiting agency? Fees, process, and how it differs from executive search.
Recruitment outsourcing fits when a role is hard to fill, HR is stretched, you need to reach passive candidates, or you want the security of free replacement during a guarantee period. For high-volume, high-turnover entry- and mid-level roles (retail staff, customer service, warehouse, etc.), see How to Choose Recruitment Outsourcing for Entry- and Mid-Level Roles for a cost comparison with in-house hiring and staffing.
5Headhunting: when you actually need it
Headhunting (Executive Search) is generally used for senior, confidential, or extremely hard-to-fill positions, such as CEO, CFO, and VP roles, using confidential retainers and proactive outreach to target candidates who are not applying for jobs. We cover headhunting fee models and how to choose a firm in a separate article, so we won't repeat that here: How Are Headhunter Fees Calculated?. For entry- to mid-level or general professional roles, outsourced recruitment is usually enough; you don't necessarily need headhunter-level search.
6How to choose: matching by job type and urgency
| Situation | Recommended channels |
|---|---|
| The role is attractive enough and HR has time to screen | Internal referrals + job board listings |
| Limited budget, not in a hurry, willing to take time and wait | Free channels (social media, government employment service centers) |
| Openings posted for a long time without being filled, HR stretched thin | Recruitment agencies (commissioned recruitment) |
| Entry- to mid-level, high volume, high turnover | Outsourced recruitment or staffing, depending on how long you need the person. See the comparison |
| Short-term, seasonal, or not sure whether you need them long-term | Staffing |
| CEO, CFO, and other senior or confidential roles | Headhunting (Executive Search) |
In practice, many companies use these in tiers: test the waters with free channels and job banks first, bring in a recruitment agency if that doesn't work, and use a headhunter only for senior or highly confidential roles.
7FAQ
Does posting on 104 cost money?
Yes. 104 (a Taiwanese job site) publicly lists its standard posting price as NT$4,600 for 30 days, and new customers' first purchase as NT$888 for one job for 30 days (offer valid until 2026-10-30). Prices may change, so check 104's official website.
What are completely free ways to find talent?
Employee referrals, your company website and social media posts, and Taiwan's public employment service centers (Taiwan Jobs) are all free channels; the cost is mainly HR's or employees' time, with no cash outlay.
Besides 104, what other platforms can I use to find talent?
Other common options in Taiwan include other job sites and social recruiting ads such as LinkedIn. Each platform's features and pricing are as officially announced; companies can compare and choose based on the nature of the role and their budget.
How do you estimate the cost of finding talent?
Free channels cost no cash. Job boards charge listing fees that depend on the plan. Recruitment agencies mostly charge on success—at Step1ne, for example, the average starts at about 1.5 months' salary, depending on the role and contract. Staffing means paying wages plus a management fee each month.
For an urgent opening, which channel is fastest?
If the role itself is attractive enough, posting on a job site usually brings in applicants fastest; if it's hard to fill or you need to reach passive candidates proactively, a recruitment agency is usually faster than posting from scratch because it already has a talent database.
How is a recruitment agency different from a headhunter, and which should I use?
Recruitment agencies cover a wider range, from entry-level to mid- and senior-level roles; headhunting usually refers to senior, confidential or extremely hard-to-fill positions. For the detailed differences, see What is a recruitment agency? Fees, process and how it differs from headhunting.
Not sure which channel fits you?
Tell us the job title, headcount and salary range, and a consultant will tell you straight which channel gives the best value, and which positions free channels can handle on their own.
Talk with a consultant on LINERelated reading: Commissioned Recruiting for Employers · What is recruitment outsourcing? Fees, process, and how it differs from headhunting · How headhunting firms charge · Choosing recruitment outsourcing for entry- and mid-level roles
Looking for talent but not sure which channel to use? Tell us the role and headcount, and we'll help you compare.
Take the hiring-model assessment first Ask a consultant on LINE・104 (a Taiwanese job site) official blog: 2026 job posting plans (accessed 2026-10-19)
・1111 Job Bank official posting plans (accessed 2026-10-19)
・LinkedIn official job posting pricing (accessed 2026-10-19)
・Taiwan Jobs (Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor) (accessed 2026-09-29)