In the age of globalization and the knowledge economy, having people with key knowledge and technical skills is central to Taiwan's competitiveness. The nation is now seeing a large inflow of investments from overseas Taiwanese businesses thanks to the realignment of global supply chains, Taiwan's success in suppressing COVID-19 this year, as well as three major programs introduced in early 2019 to boost investment in Taiwan. If Taiwan wishes to play an essential role in the post-COVID global economy, however, it must also create a pool of high-caliber human resources to draw from.
For these reasons, the government is aggressively promoting three strategies for cultivating and recruiting key talent: nurturing domestic digital talent, recruiting key international talent, and expanding bilingual skills along with international perspectives. These strategies will be achieved by improving the environment and regulatory framework to attract foreign talent, and by promoting international exchanges, industrial-academic collaboration, and the bilingual Taiwan policy, all of which will train and recruit more bilingual and digital talent from home and abroad. The objective is to transform Taiwan into a major hub for outstanding talent, and utilize human resources as the driver of industrial growth and Taiwan's competitiveness.
Three major strategies
■ Cultivate local digital talent: Expand training capabilities at higher-education institutions by increasing the number of openings for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors and hiring more instructors. Encourage colleges and universities to offer microdegree programs on interdisciplinary digital technology. Promote collaborative training programs between industries and universities. Encourage businesses to work with government in supporting the establishment of research schools specializing in semiconductors and other fields important to the nation. Implement training programs for high-level personnel in designated industries.
■ Recruit key international talent: Expand recruitment programs for high-level academic and scientific research personnel. Push for amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals. Expand recruitment of high-achieving students from abroad. Ease restrictions on foreign university graduates coming to Taiwan for work.
■ Expand bilingual skills and international perspectives: Encourage colleges to conduct courses in English as part of the bilingual Taiwan policy. Step up recruitment of instructors and researchers from English-speaking countries. Nurture English-speaking professionals in semiconductors, economics, trade, finance and other fields. Strengthen international exchanges of people.