Recruiting in China

Chinese mainland employers across all industries, and the service sector in particular, remain optimistic in their recruitment plans in the first quarter of 2008, according to a recent survey.

The employment outlook survey, conducted by Manpower, a world leader in the employment services industry, questioned nearly 52,000 employers around the world, including more than 16,000 in the Asia-Pacific region and 4,100 in the Chinese mainland.

The Chinese mainland net employment outlook improved by two-percentage points since last quarter, but dropped slightly compared to the same quarter of 2007, according to the survey.

In the first quarter of 2008, the net employment outlook for the Chinese mainland stands at 14 percent. That figure is the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity, minus that of employers expecting to reduce their workforce, said the Manpower.

The survey also found the strongest recruitment plans in the service sector, for the second consecutive quarter, as services gear up for the 2008 Olympic Games.

"The Chinese mainland, faced with companies' over-cautious recruitment activities, is drafting related detailed laws and regulations to clarify its labor contract law," said Lucille Wu, managing director of Manpower Greater China. She added, "Once this is complete, we believe employment relationships in the Chinese mainland will achieve standardization."

Among major cities of the Chinese mainland, employers in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province and where the outlook index has reached 19 percent, report the strongest recruitment expectations. That figure is a 10-percentage point improvement over the previous quarter and the strongest quarter-over-quarter increase to date.

"The result of the survey reflects a growing demand for talent in Chengdu, one of the most important cities in southwestern China," said Wu.

Last September, the Sichuan provincial government signed a strategic cooperation agreement on talent development with Manpower, in an effort to take advantage of Manpower's network to improve the local talent pool while attracting foreign investment.

In the other 26 countries and regions covered by the survey, first-quarter hiring is also expected to be positive although degrees of optimism vary, according to the survey.

In the Asia-Pacific region, employers in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan Province indicate they will slow the pace of hiring compared to the same period of last year. The strongest recruitment plans were reported in Singapore and India.