The Executive Yuan will hold regular Cabinet-level meetings to address the problem of talent shortage, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today after hearing the Council for Economic Planning and Development's (CEPD) report on the situation facing Taiwan. Considering the impact that talent policies have on the nation's competitiveness, he directed ministries to formulate short-, medium- and long-term goals to tackle the brain drain problem.
Talent turnover is normal in an era of globalization, and countries around the world are actively contending for skilled workers, the CEPD said. Unfortunately, the talent pool Taiwan has accumulated in the past is slowly draining out. The government continues to strengthen measures to replenish this resource and maintain national competitiveness.
Measures carried out in 2012 by various government agencies have achieved the following results:
1.Cultivating talent
a.Narrowing the academia-industry gap:
The Ministry of Education (MOE) provided 1,910 industry-academic collaboration and postgraduate business classes to 56,033 students. It also promoted "model technology universities," designating six universities to set up industry-focused technical colleges and two to establish industrial research and development centers. The National Science Council (NSC) approved 864 industry-academic projects involving 2,179 graduate students, 883 companies and 1,685 employees.
b.Creating an international environment for academic research:
The MOE encouraged Taiwan's universities to offer joint dual-degree programs in conjunction with foreign universities. For the 2011-2012 school year, 116 foreign universities cooperated with local universities of science and technology, and 226 with general universities. Courses were also offered in English.
c.Linking Taiwan's talent to the world:
The NSC launched a program in 2013 that selects 13 post-doctorate researchers annually and grants each NT$1.3 million (US$43,700) a year—for up to two years—to study cutting-edge technology abroad. In addition, the MOE offered scholarships to 30 students to attain doctoral degrees overseas in advanced fields; the scholarships are awarded for a maximum of three years per person.
2.Retaining talent
a.Relaxing salary restrictions:
The Executive Yuan and the Examination Yuan are formulating regulations to permit public research personnel to, due to scientific research needs, hold concurrent jobs or use technology as investment capital.
b.Improving international academic cooperation:
The NSC cooperated with the California Institute of Technology in six areas of advanced energy research. The NSC also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Germany.
c.Retaining overseas Chinese and foreign students:
The MOE relaxed requirements for these students to stay in Taiwan for work or internship: holders of bachelor's degrees with an academic grade of 70 or above, and all master's degree holders, are eligible to stay in Taiwan for one year of internship. For students graduating in 2011 or later, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) also relaxed regulations, permitting those earning NT$37,619 (US$1,265) or more to work in Taiwan without having to have two years' prior work experience.
3. Recruiting talent
a.Easing regulations for foreigners to work and live in Taiwan:
The CLA revised the Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers, allowing foreigners to be hired by consignment or contract. The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) also revised the Immigration Act so that foreigners no longer have to live in Taiwan for at least 183 days per year to maintain permanent resident status.
b.Recruiting foreign faculty:
To give foreign teachers at public schools more financial security in their retirement, the MOE is planning to allow those receiving a lump-sum pension payout to have the option of participating in annuity insurance programs for private school faculty. The NSC also launched a subsidy program that enabled colleges to recruit three professors, five associate professors and 38 assistant professors of technology from overseas.
c.Creating a foreigner-friendly environment:
The MOI relaxed the Immigration Act to allow the spouse and underage children of foreign professionals to apply for permanent residence at the same time as the professional.
d.Enhancing cross-strait talent exchange:
The MOI also revised regulations governing multinational companies transferring mainland Chinese employees to Taiwan, as well as regulations governing mainland residents engaging in commercial activities in Taiwan.
Industries, government, research circles and academia are all concerned about the talent shortage, the CEPD noted, and many suggestions have been made to the government. This issue was high on the agenda during the Cabinet's science and technology meeting held last December. This January the Academia Sinica proposed a set of policy solutions to the brain drain problem in the higher education system. Both the meeting and the research institute concluded that Taiwan suffers from unbalanced higher education development and the loss of talents to other countries.
Despite a swath of policies made to train, retain and recruit talents, Taiwan will still see serious talent shortages amid the global economic downturn and a low national birth rate, the CEPD said. Stronger initiatives should be in place to stem the trend.
The Cabinet's talent policy meeting, to be chaired by the premier, will assess talent problems and guide agencies in forming short-, medium- and long-term measures. The goal is to diversify channels for talent training, narrow the gap between educational training and industry needs, and stay internationally competitive, the CEPD said.