Job Titles in Taiwan: How to Address Your Boss

In a Taiwanese company you address a senior colleague by surname plus job title: 王經理 (Wáng jīnglǐ, Manager Wang), 陳協理 (Chén xiélǐ, a title between manager and vice president in many firms), 林副總 (Lín fùzǒng). You do not use the bare name of someone senior to you. 老闆 (lǎobǎn, boss, owner) is the exception, and it fits small businesses better than corporate offices. This guide covers the ladder, the exceptions, what to call colleagues of your own rank, and where English names come in.

The basic pattern: surname + title

Chinese puts the surname first and the title after it. The same order is used in speech, in 您好 greetings, in emails and in LINE messages.

• 王經理，早安。 Wáng jīnglǐ, zǎo’ān. Good morning, Manager Wang.
• 陳協理，您好。 Chén xiélǐ, nín hǎo. Hello, Chen xiélǐ. (There is no standard English equivalent for 協理.)
• 想請教林副總一個問題。 Xiǎng qǐngjiào Lín fùzǒng yí ge wèntí. I would like to ask Vice President Lin a question.

You can also use the title alone when the person is clearly the only one it could refer to: 經理，這份報告我寫好了。 Jīnglǐ, zhè fèn bàogào wǒ xiěhǎo le. (Manager, I have finished this report.) With the surname it sounds more personal and a little warmer.

The title ladder

Common titles, from the top of a company down:

Title	Reading	Gloss
董事長	dǒngshìzhǎng	chairman of the board
總經理	zǒngjīnglǐ	general manager, president
經理	jīnglǐ	manager, head of a department
副理	fùlǐ	deputy manager
襄理	xiānglǐ	assistant manager (mostly in banks, ranked below 副理)
課長	kèzhǎng	section head
組長	zǔzhǎng	team lead

副總 (fùzǒng) is the everyday short form of 副總經理 (vice general manager). 協理 (xiélǐ) sits between 經理 and 副總 in many Taiwanese companies.

A common top-down order in Taiwanese firms is 董事長, 總經理, 副總經理 (副總), 協理, 經理, 副理, 襄理, then 課長 and 組長. Practice varies. Some firms skip rungs, some use 處長 (division head) or 部長 or 主任 (director), and a foreign-owned company may use English titles in Chinese sentences. English translations are also unreliable: one firm’s 經理 may be a senior manager and another’s a team lead. Learn the titles in your own company by asking a colleague, and check the company org chart.

Two points about direct address:

• For the 董事長 (chairman), the form 王董 (Wáng dǒng) is used for a chairman named Wang. Surname plus 董 is commonly heard in Taiwan. For a 總經理, the form 王總 (Wáng zǒng) is also common, and more so in mainland China. In Taiwan both 王總 and 王總經理 occur. Follow what your colleagues say.
• 主管 (zhǔguǎn) means “the person in charge” and is a general word for a supervisor. It is common as a noun (我的主管, my supervisor) and is usually not used as a direct address.

老闆: when it fits

老闆 (lǎobǎn) means the owner of a business, from an older meaning of a shop owner. In practice:

• At a small company, a restaurant or a shop, staff and customers often say 老闆 to the owner, and 老闆娘 (lǎobǎnniáng) to the owner’s wife or to a woman who runs the business.
• In a larger company, colleagues often use 老闆 when talking about a senior manager, for example 老闆今天不在 (the boss is out today). This is a way of referring to someone, and the same colleagues would address that person by title.
• When you speak to your boss directly, use the title. If the owner of a small firm is called 老闆 by everyone else, you can do the same.

Whether 老闆 sounds warm or too casual depends on the firm. If in doubt in a first week, use the surname and title and listen to what people do.

Colleagues of your own level

Titles are for people senior to you. Among peers Taiwanese offices are usually less formal:

• Peers often call each other by full name (陳怡君). The given name alone (怡君) is for colleagues you are close to, and the surname alone is abrupt.
• 小王 (xiǎo Wáng) and 老王 (lǎo Wáng) are common for a junior and an older colleague with surname Wang. Be careful, as 老 can sound like a comment on age.
• For someone a little senior but without a title, a given name plus 哥 (gē, older brother) or 姐 (jiě, older sister), as in 志明哥, 美玲姐, is common in Taiwanese workplaces, and the choice varies by company.
• 前輩 (qiánbèi) means someone senior in age or experience. It is used for a respected person in a field, and in some workplaces, for the colleague who joined before you.

A new colleague will often tell you what to call them in the first meeting.

English names at work

Many people in Taiwan have an English name, and in some companies, particularly multinational and tech firms, colleagues use English names with each other even in Chinese conversation. Others use their Chinese name throughout. Practice varies by company and by team, so take your lead from how people introduce themselves and how they sign emails. If a colleague’s English name is used, you can use it without a title, and an email to a manager can still say 王經理 or use the English name, depending on the office.

For your own name, a Chinese name is useful if you plan to stay. The choosing a Chinese name guide covers the rules.

你 and 您 at work

The polite 您 is used less in spoken Taiwanese office life than learners expect. Many managers are addressed with 你 in speech, with the title doing the respectful work, while 您 appears in writing and in formal situations such as meeting a client or an executive for the first time. See 你 vs 您 for the details, and formal Chinese messages for templates. Your boss saying 你 to you does not mean you should drop the title.

Phrases you will use in the first week

Situation	Chinese	Pinyin
Meeting your manager	王經理，您好，我是新來的同事。	Wáng jīnglǐ, nín hǎo, wǒ shì xīn lái de tóngshì.
Asking for help	麻煩您幫我看一下，謝謝。	Máfan nín bāng wǒ kàn yíxià, xièxie.
Leaving	我先走了，辛苦了。	Wǒ xiān zǒu le, xīnkǔ le.
Greeting at the lift	經理早。	Jīnglǐ zǎo.

辛苦了 (xīnkǔ le) is the all-purpose acknowledgement of someone’s effort and is used between colleagues at the end of the day. 同事 (tóngshì) is “colleague”.

If you work in tech, the guide to meeting vocabulary at Taiwanese tech companies adds the mixed Chinese-English phrases you will hear next to these titles.

Related reading

• 你 vs 您: Polite Address in Chinese
• Mandarin for Meetings at Taiwanese Tech Companies
• Formal Chinese Messages: Email, LINE & 請假 Templates
• Choosing a Chinese Name in Taiwan