National Science Council holds conference on brain drain crisis

 Updated Tuesday, August 7, 2012 0:27 am TWN, CNATAIPEI--The National Science Council opened a conference yesterday in which scientific advisers to the council will discuss a growing brain drain crisis that is threatening Taiwan's economic and technological development. Science Minister Cyrus Chu(朱敬一) said participants of the council's two-day conference on science and technology development will brainstorm ideas on stopping the brain drain, and also on how to better link academic research and the private sector.Part of the problem, Chu said, is that much of the foreign talent working in Taiwan is not highly skilled.Of the 450,000 foreign nationals who entered Taiwan to work last year, 400,000 were hired as blue-collar workers. Many of the remaining white-collar workers were language teachers or involved in jobs that did not require technical skills or specialized knowledge, he said.The conservative nature of Taiwanese society has also held up efforts to attract foreign professionals to work in Taiwan, he added, noting that few foreigners serve on decision-making positions in local companies.At the same time, China's aggressive efforts to recruit Taiwanese talent by offering high salaries is eroding Taiwan's homegrown talent pool, Chu warned.On the eve of the conference, Chu raised the alarm over the brain drain, warning that Taiwan would "perish miserably" if it continued doing nothing to stop the country's erosion of talent, according to local media reports.The Cabinet official said Taiwan has entered the "talent-gap era," with fewer Taiwanese students going abroad for advanced studies and greater difficulties involved in keeping talent at home or attracting top professionals from abroad, the United Daily News reported.The Industrial Technology Research Institute, Taiwan's top technology research agency, has already lost several senior executives to similar research organizations in China because it was unable to match the mainland's lucrative salary and benefits offers, Chu lamented.To stop the drain, the minister said Taiwan should define "talent" and "workers" separately, and he suggested that salary caps imposed on senior officials at national research institutes should be lifted.The government will use the conclusions of the Aug. 6-7 conference as a reference in devising science and technology development strategies, according to the Cabinet-level council.