Taiwan placed 23rd in a global talent ranking this year, unchanged from last year, a study by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) showed, citing the nation’s need to improve its educational spending, stop a brain drain and attract foreign skilled personnel.
The annual survey aims to assess how individual economies develop, attract and retain talent to sustain the pool that enterprises employ to create long-term value by comparing their investment and development, appeal and readiness scores.
Taiwan ranked 23rd among 63 economies, the same as last year and in 2015. It lagged behind Hong Kong (12th) and Singapore (13th), but was ahead of Japan (31st), South Korea (39th) and China (40th), the report said.
“Taiwan achieved above-average rankings in all three factors, but demonstrated weakness in the ability to attract foreign professionals or reverse brain drain,” IMD World Competitiveness Center economist Jose Caballero told the Central News Agency.
The Lausanne, Switzerland-based institute found Taiwan wanting due to a continued brain drain, where it ranked 47th, and its ability to attract foreign highly skilled personnel, where it placed 44th.
Taiwan ranked 47th in the cost-of-living index, drawn from a basket of goods and services in the main city, the institute said.
In terms of public education expenditure, Taiwan ranked 46th, four notches down from last year, with its ranking on pupil-teacher ratio for secondary education slipping two notches to 45th, the report said.
The ranking of whether Taiwanese companies consider attracting and retaining talent a priority was 38th, it said.
These trends might lead to a shortage of skilled labor in the long run, Caballero said, suggesting that Taiwan spend more on education and take steps to address the brain drain.
In response, the National Development Council said in a statement that the government last year raised the minimum spending on education from 22.5 percent to 23 percent of the average government revenue over the past three years.
The Cabinet has also proposed legal revisions aimed at cutting tax rates for high-income earners from 45 percent to 40 percent, while the Legislative Yuan has eased rules governing stock dividend payouts so companies would have more leeway to retain talent, the council said.
The Ministry of Education has drawn up measures to downsize classroom size amid a population decline, it said.
The government has also provided scholarships and other incentives to encourage foreign students to study in Taiwan, it said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique