Taiwan has followed Hong Kong in relaxing visa rules to allow foreign university students to stay longer after graduation to search for a job - a process that could hand the island as many as 200,000 new white-collar employees by 2032, reports The Bangkok Post. On New Year's Day, Taiwan extended the limit to two years, a National Immigration Agency spokeswoman said. The previous rule allowed graduates to stay for just six months to a year. The change is aimed at plugging a talent shortage that has surged with Taiwan's declining and ageing population.

National Development Council head Kung Ming-hsin said in September 2022 that Taiwan would try to attract 400,000 mostly white-collar foreign workers by 2032, with about half expected to come through the island’s universities. Most international students come from Southeast Asia due to Taiwan's New Southbound Policy, which is aimed at building closer economic ties with a group of 18 countries, including the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

A recent study found that 86% of foreign students in Taiwan were willing to seek work on the island after they graduate, the government's Overseas Community Affairs Council said this month on its website.