Recruitment for overseas AI talent to target India's Bangalore: NDC head

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) Taiwan will seek to attract talent from Bangalore, India as it has the second most artificial intelligence (AI) talent in the world after the United States, said National Development Council (NDC) head Paul Liu (劉鏡清).

In an online interview aired Friday, Liu was asked about the challenge posed by the labor shortage Taiwan will encounter in the near future.

"At least until the end of the current administration [of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德)], or 2028, the overall gap for labor is estimated to be around 350,000," Liu said.

Even after carrying out measures domestically to support the employment of new graduates, increase female labor force participation, and help those aged 55 and above seek reemployment, "we estimate there will still be a gap of around 200,000," the NDC head said.

"Of the 200,000, 120,000 will be jobs that require professional skills, and this is where we hope to introduce foreign talent," he added.

The government will continue the work to attract more foreign talent by relaxing regulations for residence and social benefits passed in 2021, while also working harder to retain overseas students in Taiwan's job market, Liu said.

Also, a project targeting overseas Taiwanese professionals working in the U.S. will be launched next January, the council head said.

"Many of them might have run into a glass ceiling in their professions or come to a point in their life where their parents in Taiwan need their company," Liu said, "and we aim to provide assistance for them to get employment or start new businesses in Taiwan."

On recruiting overseas talent, the NDC is also undertaking "precision marketing," Liu stressed.

He explained that it will be implemented by putting resources into advertising. "Overseas talent looking for employment or digital nomads looking for a base will be reached by Taiwan's advertisement."

The NDC head said the council has been experimenting with the idea and after making adjustments, the official launch will be in January next year after the council secures the necessary budget.

Another focus of NDC precision marketing is LinkedIn, Liu said.

"We have found on LinkedIn, after analyzing the data, that AI talent are mostly based in the U.S., but the second largest pool is in India's Bangalore," he said, adding that the NDC will start to recruit talent from Bangalore in November, without providing details.

Meanwhile, Taiwan will designate more resources for AI applications, "an area in which it is considered relatively weak compared to AI chip manufacturing, where it accounts for 70 to 90 percent of the world's total production," Liu said.