More open policies by Taiwan can retain, attract talent, expert says

Lee said that Taiwan fell behind many countries and places like Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia in terms of keeping and attracting professional talent.

Many of Taiwan’s technology talents, including researchers in the ITRI, have been recruited to work in Singapore, said Lee, who is currently visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

What Taiwan lacks are favorable government measures to retain and attract talent, Lee said.

In addition to local research institutes’ efforts to provide a better environment to prevent a brain drain, Lee said, Taiwan’s government should offer more assistance, which could include a more open attitude towards allowing foreigners to work here, and favorable regulations related to talent acquisition, including loosening guidelines on the kind of jobs foreigners are allowed to do here and providing easier access to residency rights.

Lee cited Singapore as an example Taiwan can learn from. Singapore recruited leaders of and teams of research institutes in the United States and Europe with high salaries. It also simplified the process for foreign professionals to acquire work permits, residency, and naturalization.

Lee pointed out that Taiwan’s ITRI has made a lot of efforts in improving teamwork and creating a good entrepreneurship environment to keep its talented staff.

The institute allows researchers to spend 10 percent of their work time to research innovative topics that they are interested in, Lee said.

ITRI also provides development capital to employees for profitable innovations created during that part of their work time and researchers can receive 25 percent of the technology transfer fees on their inventions, Lee said.

ITRI’s staff are also free to give suggestions and criticism about the institute’s operations on its employee intranet, in the hope of inviting ideas for the institute’s improvement, Lee said.

The ITRI also encourages researchers to study ways to develop innovations beneficial to disadvantaged groups, energy saving, and health care, in order to keep them in the institute by satisfying their need to make contributions to society, Lee said.

Lee is in Malaysia for the Frost and Sullivan 4th Annual Growth Innovation and Leadership Summit, which was organized by the U.S.-based growth consulting company Frost and Sullivan.

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