Taiwan Promotes Talent Push Amid Nvidia Office Buzz

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan is making a concerted effort to attract top-tier global talent, particularly in AI and high tech, as chip designer Nvidia plans a new office in Taipei. The government is amending recruitment laws to modify visas for highly skilled foreign workers. But some talent recruitment specialists in Taiwan say the focus shouldn't only be on the high end.

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00:00A new Taipei office complex for the world's largest chip designer NVIDIA is in the works,

00:05and Taiwan's government is making a push to bring even more top-tier talent into the country,

00:10especially in AI and high tech. The National Development Council is seeking to amend a

00:15recruitment law that would, among other things, modify special visas for highly skilled foreign

00:20workers. The new rules would expand eligibility to graduates of the world's top 200 universities

00:26and extend the length of a pilot digital nomad visa to two years. And the government says

00:32it's not just about one company.

00:56There would also be changes to the rules for Taiwan's Gold Card Program, which grants residence

01:02and work permits for high-earning foreign nationals, to allow high earners to gain permanent residency

01:08after one year, and grant full working rights to the spouses of visa holders. The Gold Card has been

01:14increasing in popularity since it was launched in 2018, seeing a big jump after the COVID-19 pandemic,

01:20with over 13,000 now issued, with the largest share of Gold Card holders coming from the U.S. and Hong

01:26Kong. But while the policies target highly skilled workers, some talent recruitment specialists in

01:32Taiwan say that the workforce requirements for some companies might not be at the higher end.

01:37They're not necessarily looking to pay top salaries, especially if these workers don't necessarily have

01:43very comprehensive Chinese skills or are kind of attuned to the Taiwanese work culture.

01:49Recruiters also say that small to medium-sized businesses need help with their internal processes.

01:56A company like NVIDIA, they don't have HR problems when it comes to hiring international talent, right?

02:02From an internal logistical process, they don't have that challenge. But there are hundreds or maybe

02:08thousands of companies that do. Much of the time, it's simply saying, we don't understand this process.

02:12We don't know how to do this. And, you know, I think the government can help set these companies up to win.

02:18Whether a single office project alone can solve Taiwan's troubles with attracting and retaining talent

02:24remains uncertain. But officials hope the new reforms will help Taiwan compete and ultimately win

02:29in the global race for the AI industry.

02:32Justin Wu and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.

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