Recruiting in China

Increased FDI, the relatively small pool of locally-experienced talent and a growing trend in salary package inflation are the most common complaints of companies struggling to hire suitable staff in China, research by the recruitment group, Antal International has found.

More than half of the companies in China questioned are being held back by problems recruiting quality staff, according to the latest China Market Survey conducted by global recruitment firm, Antal International. Most of the 500 company managers who were questioned in the bi-annual survey believe their operation is being held back by a combination of increased competition for candidates caused by more new entrants to the market, fast-rising packages as companies offer more to attract staff and a concern at the size of the experienced talent market given the number of middle to senior vacancies on offer.

Academic qualifications are less of a concern; most candidates are highly educated with just ten percent of managers showing this as an area of concern. What mattered more to the overwhelming majority was the shortage of people with local market or regional experience as a reason for being unable to find the right person to fill a vacancy. “The fact that over 50% of companies in China are struggling to recruit using their own methods at the management level is a great concern to new market entrants and those players already here,” said Robert Parkinson, head of Antal’s Asia region. “There are so many other intellectual property, licensing, regulatory, cultural, and other important issues for business managers to deal with today that this adds greatly to their already crowded agenda” said Parkinson.

While over-fishing in the talent pool has exacerbated the shortage of experienced people, the competition for staff has led to increased wage inflation with people moving roles more frequently as increasingly higher packages are offered to tempt them. Added to this, the risks associated with hiring the wrong people; especially in a place like China make it a minefield, particularly at a time when growth and opportunity is at stake. Some companies are looking for Chinese staff in Europe, USA and wider Asia and bringing them back to fill the gaps. Having an international reach into other markets to cover domestic market issues like staffing is now a key aspect to success in China.

The research found that the Media & PR, Technology & Telecommunications and FMCG sectors were most affected by skills shortages, with 59% of companies reporting trouble finding suitable candidates without resorting to external solution providers such as Antal. This was followed by Shipping and Transport with 51% reporting hiring issues as their market expanded.

Functionally, experienced Marketing and Sales skills, across a broad range of industries, far outweighed the rest as the area with the most scarcity but was closely followed by Accountancy and Finance. In freight and transport, Chartering and broking skills were in high demand.

Geographically, businesses in the major cities reported the most difficulties with Shanghai and Guangzhou in third and fourth place. Beijing and nearby cities in the north were the worst hit, with 63% of companies saying they struggled to recruit adequately experienced staff on time without enlisting the help of external recruiters.

Robert Parkinson, who has seen his own business grow four fold in headcount in the last 12 months, sympathised with the findings. “It is difficult to find the right people on your own or using only a single sourcing methodology such as the web as it exposes you to those who may just be after an increase. It also has an effect on the amount of management time spent in sifting and hiring. This is why our clients use us as we can scour the market more thoroughly and use a combination of methods to find the best people for them. Additionally our in-depth screening and matching process identifies traits that might be a warning of candidates who job-hop from package to package.