Category: "News of China"
China HSBC April services PMI falls to lowest in nearly 2 years
May 8th, 2013Growth in China's services sector slowed sharply in April to its lowest point since August 2011, a private sector survey showed on Monday, in fresh evidence that economic revival will remain modest and may be facing wider risks.
The HSBC services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 51.1 in April from 54.3 in March, with new order expansion the slowest in 20 months and staffing levels in the service sector decreasing for the first time since January 2009.
The HSBC services PMI follows a similar survey by China's National Bureau of Statistics, which found non-manufacturing activity eased to 54.5.
"The cooling of service sector activity in April likely reflected the knock-on effect of slower manufacturing growth, the impact of property tightening measures and the spreading bird flu," said HSBC's China chief economist Qu Hongbin.
A reading above 50 indicates activity in the sector is accelerating, while one below 50 indicates it is slowing.
Two separate PMIs last week showed that China's manufacturing sector growth had slowed, suggesting the country's exports engine is running into headwinds from the euro zone recession and sluggish growth in the United States.
In the latest survey, the sub-index measuring new business orders dropped sharply to a 20-month low of 51.5 in April, with only 15 percent of survey respondents reporting an increased volume of new orders that month, HSBC said.
"Again, this started to bite employment growth. All these are likely to add some risk to China's growth in 2Q, as there's still a bumpy road towards sustaining growth recovery," Qu said.
The employment sub-index decreased to 49.6 in April, the first net reduction in staff numbers since January 2009, although HSBC said job losses were marginal, partially caused by firms down-sizing and employee resignations.
Employment is a decisive factor shaping government thinking because it is crucial for social stability. The services sector accounted for 46 percent of China's gross domestic product in 2012, as big as the country's better-known manufacturing industry.
At the depth of the global financial crisis in 2008/2009, an estimated 20 million rural migrant workers lost their jobs, prompting Beijing to unveil a 4 trillion yuan stimulus package to shore up the economy and provide employment.
China's annual economic growth dipped to 7.4 percent in the third quarter, slowing for seven quarters in a row and leaving the economy on course for its weakest showing since 1999.
The government has set a 2013 growth target of 7.5 percent, a level Beijing deems sufficient for job creation while providing room to deliver reforms to the economy.
University seniors struggle to find good job
May 6th, 2013A majority of university and college students set to graduate in the city next month are still looking for a job due to the grim employment situation.
Only 29 percent of 178,000 students who are to graduate this June have signed an offer, been admitted to postgraduate studies or decided to study abroad as of last month, according to the Shanghai Student Affairs Center.
The percentage was up 4 percent from March but down 3 percent year-on-year, even though the number of graduates is about the same as last year, the center said.
The center attributed the poor employment prospects for graduates mainly on the recovering economy, adding that the number of available positions declined from the past two years.
Some industries, especially manufacturing and foreign trade, have either suffered a downturn or are in a transition, making it especially difficult for students who majored in those fields.
In order to get a job, some students lowered their salary expectations while others accepted a position in a different industry.
"I would take a job as long as the salary is 3,000 yuan (US$488) a month," said a student majoring in printing art design at University of Shanghai for Science and Technology.
The senior said he has had more than 20 job interviews, but hasn't heard back from any of the companies.
In February, students were still expecting a starting salary of at least 4,000 yuan, up 225 yuan from the average salary of 2012 graduates, according to China International Intellectech (Shanghai) Corp.
Only 20 percent of seniors at University of Shanghai for Science and Technology have signed up for a job or have been admitted to postgraduate studies, said Niu Xiangyu, director of the student employment guidance center at the school.
Niu said the demand for mechanical and manufacturing graduates was down 40 percent from last year.
Teachers from student employment centers at other universities and colleges said the accumulation of jobless graduates from previous years and the increasing number of overseas students who return to China for jobs have made it more difficult for this year's graduates to land a job.
"The overwhelming number of applicants have made competition for jobs harder and fiercer," said Tan Yuxu, director of the employment guidance center at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
"But the students are reluctant to lower their expectations," Tan said.
For example, some students refused to take jobs requiring different shifts even though the salary could be more than 4,000 yuan per month.
"Many students lost job opportunities like that simply because they don't want to endure hardships," Tan said.
Tan also said some students were spoiled by their parents and gave up easily after they failed to find an ideal job. They then relied on their parents and missed the best time to get a job, Tan added.
Tan suggested parents help their children lower expectations for their first job rather than compare them to their peers or help them become a NEET, defined as a young person "not in education, employment, or training."
Nationwide, nearly 7 million university students are about to graduate this summer, the largest number since 1949.
Education focus shifts to filling labor gap
May 3rd, 2013Vocational schools emphasize skilled training to meet growing demand
China is gradually shifting its education focus from a pursuit of diplomas to vocational training, in a bid to meet the growing demand for skilled workers in the country's technical upgrade.
The supply and demand in China's labor market has been mismatched, which resulted in structural unemployment, said Rong Lanxiang, headmaster of Shandong Lanxiang Vocational School, one of China's largest training bases of skilled workers.
"The overexpansion of university enrollment generates millions of graduates who struggle to find a place in the government or public institutions. But, on the other hand, the shortage of skilled workers in China's manufacturing sector was more than 4 million at the moment," Rong said, explaining that high-skilled workers only account for 15 percent of the country's workforce.
Another reason is the stereotyped, stubborn image that workers are ranked at a lower class of the social hierarchy and fail to win enough esteem, he added.
Rong said the issue has drawn attention from the government and corresponding changes in policy have been made, as reflected by the change in students' subsidies.
In February, China decided that from 2014 it will do away with the publicly funded postgraduate education system that has been in place for several decades.
Meanwhile, the government has also been increasing fiscal support for vocational schools. Since 2012, the Shandong government has provided annual subsidies of up to 4,800 yuan ($773) for each of Rong's students, on top of the 1,500-yuan national allowance.
"The policy came 10 years late, otherwise we would not have seen such a large gap in the supply of skilled workers," Rong said.
His words were echoed by Xu Xiaoping, a senior technician from Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co, who said manufacturers are facing a severe shortage of skilled workers.
"Even if we offer a salary of 5,000 to 7,000 yuan per month, it's still hard to locate the right candidates," he said.
He attributed the malaise currently afflicting the industry to the absence of trained professionals as well as the lack of enterprise engagement.
To iron out the issue, Xu said Shanghai Volkswagen has signed several memorandums of understanding with local vocational schools to nurture technical practitioners.
As for the Lanxiang school, Rong said employers have to pay 1,000 to 3,000 yuan for each graduate they book. Even so, only companies with a noted brand and good track record are eligible to do so.
A student of the school who went on to become an excavator operator or motor mechanic could make as much as 10,000 yuan a month, an enviable salary level even for top university graduates.
Graduates from the excavator operating class have also been employed by State-owned enterprises and sent for overseas mining project in Russia and Mongolia, with even better pay.
Although Lanxiang has trained more than 300,000 skilled workers, the labor gap currently stands at 4 million people.
Therefore, Rong suggested that training bases for skilled workers should be established in each province, in order to equip the 250-million-strong migrant workforce with skills or proficiencies, so that they'll have a better chance to settle down in the cities.
Meanwhile, he said, skilled workers should have a similar social status with public servants and university graduates.
Apart from cash payments, he called for job certification to be granted for vocational school graduates so as to encourage more young people to become skilled workers.
"Nowadays kids aren't used to hard work, partly because being a worker doesn't sound decent enough," said Zhou Zhenbo, a technician at Shanghai Delixi Group Co Ltd who has a tenfold pay increase over the past nine years.
"I think it's still worth the effort and young people should learn to put their feet on the ground," he said.
China's bosses criticized over high pay
May 3rd, 2013Under chairman Jiang Jianqing, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China raked in $38.5bn in net profits last year, making it the world's most profitable bank. For his efforts, Mr Jiang was paid $185,000, less than 1 per cent of the overall package awarded to Lloyd Blankfein, chairman of Goldman Sachs.
Mr Jiang fared well compared with other Chinese financiers -- he was the best paid among the bosses of the country's biggest banks.
Chinese executives at state-owned groups have long been among the lowest paid of their global peers, according to their officially declared salaries. But even their apparently meagre pay generates controversy at a time when executive salaries at public companies globally attract scrutiny.
In China, it is not a case of shareholder revolt -- the government is the controlling shareholder of virtually all major Chinese companies and has the power to easily change salaries. Rather, public anger about inequality and corruption has made executive pay a focus for media attacks, even from official outlets.
The government-run Xinhua news agency said in an editorial: "If the top executives of state-owned companies just fatten themselves, giving themselves high salaries and rich benefits, this is a departure from the original intent of the founding of these companies."
The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist party, said: "High pay for high-level executives and low pay for ordinary employees is immoral.
"If the pay for high-level executives is severely out of balance with the pay for ordinary employees, then the management has a problem." The harshest criticism was directed at China International Marine Containers. Net profits fell by 47 per cent last year, but group president Mai Boliang was the best paid of the top managers of the country's state-owned companies, pulling in $1.6m. The People's Daily noted that salaries of CIMC's top executives had risen 13-fold in the past four years, while the average pay for employees rose just 32 per cent.
Executives at other state-owned groups cut their pay because of poor performance. Wei Jiafu, chairman of China Cosco, China's biggest shipper, decided to take home $97,000, half of what he was due, after the company lost $1.5bn.
It is an unpopular view, but some Chinese academics and analysts say the main problem with executive pay at state-owned companies is that much of the time it is too low.
Tang Jie, a researcher at Renmin university's school of finance, says the government has tried to develop better incentive systems at state-owned companies by linking pay to performance, but that it is some way off from achieving this.
"This issue derives from the history of the government's management of state-owned companies. Executive pay is very low when compared to their contributions, their abilities and their responsibilities," says Mr Tang. "State-owned companies need professional managers. They should be paid according to market standards, with compensation adjusted according to objective performance criteria."
Proponents of better executive pay point to the idea of gaoxinyanglian -- the theory that higher salaries could be used as a way to discourage corruption.
The fall of Communist party leadership hopeful Bo Xilai last year, exposed the extent to which officials have enriched themselves despite small salaries. Mr Bo's official pay was $1,600 a month, but his family had net assets of $130m, according to Bloomberg.
Even in cases without extreme corruption, Chinese corporate executive have grey sources of income. Top bankers have low official salaries and small bonuses, but they often receive homes, cars, free schooling and more.
Fabrice Isnard, head of financial services in the Shanghai office of Robert Walters, a recruitment consultancy, says foreign banks in China can rarely afford to lure talent away from local banks because of the way pay is structured.
"We have seen that at local banks, senior positions have better packages than [at] foreign banks," he says. "If you add up all the benefits it becomes too expensive for the foreign banks to hire them."
China’s air pollution scaring away expat executives
May 2nd, 2013Exits of top foreign managers amid health fears predicted to rise in future
Whitney Foard Small loved China and her job as a regional director of communications for a top automaker. But after air pollution led to several stays in hospital and finally a written warning from her doctor telling her she needed to leave the country, she packed up and moved to Thailand.
In doing so, the Ford Motor Co. executive became another expatriate to leave China because of its notoriously bad air. Other top executives whose careers would be boosted by a stint in the world’s second-largest economy and most populous consumer market are put off when considering the move.
Executive recruitment firms say it is becoming harder to attract top talent to China — both expats and Chinese nationals educated abroad. The European Chamber of Commerce in China says foreign managers leave for many different reasons, but that pollution is almost always cited as one of the factors — and is becoming a larger concern.
If the polluted skies continue, firms may have to fork out more for salaries or settle for less qualified candidates. Failure to attract the best talent to crucial roles could result in lost commercial opportunities and other missteps.
Poor air quality has also added to the existing complaints foreign companies have about operating in China. Even though the country’s commercial potential remains vast, groups representing foreign firms say doing business is getting tougher due to slowing though still robust economic growth, limits on market access and intellectual property theft.
China’s rapid economic development over the last three decades has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty but also ravaged the environment as heavy industry burgeoned and car ownership became a badge of status for the newly affluent. Health risks from pollution of air, water and soil have become a source of discontent with Communist Party rule.
Foreigners regularly check the air quality readings put out by the U.S. Embassy and consulates on their Twitter feeds when deciding whether to go out for a run or let their children play outside.
The pollution has become even more of a hot topic since January, when the readings in Beijing went off the scale and beyond what is considered hazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
At the same time, China’s state media gave unprecedented coverage to the pollution following months of growing pressure from a Chinese middle class that has become more vocal about the quality of its air.
“January was probably the worst,” said Australian Andrew Moffatt, who worked in Beijing before the pollution pushed him to return to Brisbane in March with his wife and 5-year-old son. “Back in November I had been sick and then we went on holiday to the beach in Hainan, and it just reminded me of Australia and I just thought we could be breathing this quality air every single day rather than polluted air in Beijing.”
And it’s not only in the capital where the air pollution is driving expats away.
Ford transferred its regional headquarters from Bangkok to Shanghai in 2009. Four months after the move, Small had her first major asthma attack. “I had never had asthma in my life, never ever had asthma before China,” said Small, who quit the country in May last year.
Her asthma was exacerbated by an allergy to coal, which is the source of about 70 percent of China’s energy. In Shanghai, the problem resurfaced. “Three hospitalizations later, my doctor said it was time to call it quits,” she said.
Her frequent treatments — involving inhalers, steroids and a nebulizer in the mornings and evenings to get medication deep into her lungs — meant the medication became less effective. “I actually got a written warning from my pulmonary doctor and it said you need to reconsider for your life’s sake what you’re doing and so that was it. I didn’t really have a choice, my doctor made it for me,” she said.
Ivo Hahn, the CEO of the China office of executive search consultants Stanton Chase, said that in the last six months, air pollution has become an issue for candidates they approach. “It pops up increasingly that people say, ‘Well, we don’t want to move to Beijing’ or ‘I can’t convince my family to move to Beijing,’ ” he said.
Hahn thinks this trend will only strengthen over the next one or two years because the highest-level executives generally “are not working primarily for their survival.” Such employees, he said, “normally get a decent pay, they are generally reasonably well taken care of, so the quality of life actually does matter, particularly when they have children.”
Some, however, say that China has become too important economically for up-and-coming corporate executives to ignore. It generates a large and growing share of profits for global companies while still offering a vast untapped potential.
“It’s increasingly important for people who want to have careers as managers in multinational companies to have international experience, and as part of their career path and in terms of international experience, China is one of the most desirable places because of the size of the market and growth and dynamism of the market,” said Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
Hahn said the effects of expats refusing to relocate to China aren’t going to be felt overnight, but eventually “either companies will have to pay a higher price overall because maybe candidates may have to commute, as an example, or they may lower their standards or they may offer the position to somebody who may actually not be quite as qualified.”
If the trend worsens, it would have some economic impact, said Alistair Thornton, senior China economist at IHS in Beijing.
“Expats contribute almost nothing to China’s growth because the numbers are just tiny, but intangibly they contribute quite a significant amount” by introducing foreign technology, best practices and Western management techniques “that Chinese companies are harnessing and using to drive growth,” said Thornton.
He is leaving Beijing in June, citing air pollution as one of the factors.
Trading Places
April 28th, 2013With escalating labor and rental costs as well as manpower shortages on the mainland, 'relocation' has become the new buzzword for HK factory owners. Sophie He talks to them about their experiences.
Around 25 years ago, many Hong Kong factory owners, including Willy Lin Sun-mo, managing director of Milo's Knitwear (International) Ltd, moved their manufacturing facilities from Hong Kong to Guangdong province on the mainland to take advantage of cheap labor and low rental costs.
At that time, a worker's wage was as little as 8 yuan per day. Currently, wages at Lin's Dongguan factory have risen beyond 60 yuan per day - almost more than seven times what they used to be.
Today's mainland factories, especially those located in the Pearl River Delta, find it hard to recruit enough workers.The trend started with millions heading home annually for Chinese New Year holidays, only for large numbers to refuse to return to work. The workers preferred to stay at home for lesser-paid jobs and be nearer their loved ones and families, enhancing the jobless situation in many cities - a phenomenon that has become increasingly common these days.
As many factories in Guangdong face the triple challenges of rising labor costs, labor shortages and strong increases in rental, many factory owners, including Lin, turned to relocation or investments in factories on the mainland's hinterland, or even transplanting to neighboring countries as a solution to their problems. By moving factories to where labor was both adequate and cheap, owners expected to offset their challenges and be rewarded with bigger profit margins. And while some have benefited from such moves, others have not.
Lin told China Daily that Milo's Knitwear, whose Dongguan factory was established over 20 years ago, faced labor shortages several years ago, a problem shared by many such plants. As most of his workers in the Dongguan facility are from Jiangxi province, Lin invested more than 30 million yuan to set up a plant in Jiangxi four years ago, while answering the central government's call to companies to invest in the central and western area of the country. But he simultaneously invested in automation at his Dongguan factory, replacing semi-automatic machinery with its fully automatic equivalent.
When the Jiangxi factory went operational, Lin planned to recruit as many as 2,000 workers. But despite four years of production, the factory has only hired 300 workers, Lin says, explaining that few young people who lived in the area also wanted to work near their hometown.
"Most of the young people (who are born in smaller cities) on the mainland wanted to experience life in big cities, and thanks to a well-developed transportation system in the country, they can work in big cities and return to their family overnight," Lin says.
For those who choose to work near their family and loved ones, factory owners found these workers are easily distracted by domestic chores.
"The workers (in the Jiangxi factory) never want to work overtime, as they want to go home, prepare dinner, or take care of their children," Lin points out, adding that such distractions from home means the Jiangxi workers are not as efficient as their Dongguan counterparts.
The Jiangxi factory still hasn't broken even after four years. However, Lin has no intention of giving it up, as Jiangxi labor costs are still lower than those of Dongguan, and the local government is supportive.
So Lin improvised change. "Recently, it crossed my mind that since Jiangxi workers are having such a hard time adapting to our business model, maybe we should change our business model to adapt to them," he says.
Lin says that instead of producing entire garments in the Jiangxi factory, his company decided to produce only part of the garments there, thus making it easier for workers; meanwhile, the company can also lower its requirements to adapt to their production habits.
Relocation outside the mainland
Another company Top Form International, a Hong Kong-listed brassiere manufacturer, has two production plants; one in Foshan, Guangdong province, and the other in Jiangxi province. Both were established 30 years ago to manufacture lingerie for export to the United States and Europe. The two factories have a combined labor force of some 4,300 workers.
Top Form used to have a third factory in Shenzhen, but it closed down last year, as workers' monthly wages doubled from 2,000 yuan five years ago, to more than 4,000 yuan today. Difficulty recruiting sufficient numbers of workers was another reason for the plant's closure.
Four years ago, the company decided to close down the Shenzhen factory as part of a "strategic shift" to reduce capacity in high-cost areas and increase capacity outside the mainland where costs were lower.
According to Top Form chairman Willie Fung Wai-yiu, producing brassieres requires numerous manual procedures, so the company is heavily dependent on workers and is highly sensitive to workers' wage fluctuations.
Top Form then set up a factory in Thailand where it has since doubled the number of workers to 4,000 as of 2011. The company also established a factory in Cambodia in early 2012 and hopes to staff it with 2,000 workers. Average production costs in Thailand and Cambodia are 15 percent lower than on the mainland. The company expects to have two thirds of its total production capacity outside the mainland eventually, up from the current 47 percent.
But the relocation of Top Form's factory to Cambodia brought trouble from the outset.
Fung says that by September 2012, the factory had up to 700 workers, but then out of the blue, they downed tools and went on strike.
Illegal strike
"The strike was illegal.We had to take the workers to court, and the final ruling was in the company's favor, but by that time we had already paid dearly for the incident," Fung explains, adding that the strike action saw the company close its factory for weeks and release the majority of the workers.
Top Form's Cambodia factory is already back into full swing and currently has around 300 workers. But the incident forced Fung to do some serious thinking. As a result, he wants to share what he has learned from the relocation initiative with factory owners who may also want to expand their manufacture into Southeast Asian countries.
In retrospect, Fung says it is far better to train a local management team in the country the factory is relocated to, than to introduce a new management team from Hong Kong or the mainland to the country. "As it is hard to keep a non-local manager away from his family for many years, it is better to train a local manager who will ensure smoother operations," he says.
Theater firms scramble for managers
April 26th, 2013Rapid expansion has left the industry short of qualified professionals, Huang Ying reports.
The rapid expansion of movie theaters in China has boosted box office revenues as well as spurred a huge demand for theater management specialists.
The boom began in 2010, when box office receipts exceeded 10 billion yuan ($1.61 billion) for the first time. The number of theaters surged from 2,000 in 2010 to 2,800 in 2011, up 40 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from EntGroup Consulting, a Beijing-based entertainment industry consultancy. The rapid increase in the number of theaters resulted in a shortage of qualified managers.
"During rapid economic development, the availability of human resources tends to lag behind industry growth," said Han Jian, associate professor of human resource management at China Europe International Business School.
A qualified manager must understand all aspects of running a theater, including operations, marketing, finance and screening, which is why it takes a considerable amount of time and effort to develop such skills, Han said.
Liu Cuiping, research manager at the Beijing-based entertainment consultancy EntGroup Consulting, said, "Nowadays, most movie theater managers are sourced from other sectors, such as hotel management, business administration and finance."
For example, Xu Qiong, general manager of Bingo Cinema in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, said that she entered the industry after leaving her managerial position at Procter & Gamble Co.
The shortage of qualified candidates has left theaters fighting for recruits.
Li Hui, assistant general manager of Omnijoi International Cinema in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, said: "I receive many calls inviting me to join other theaters. It's not unusual in our line of work."
Li began working in theaters in 2005 and has held different positions, such as waitress, ticket clerk and snack saleswoman.
Wang Guangmin, director of human resources and administration at Beijing Megabox Zhongguan Cineplex Co, which owns and operates two theaters in the city, said, "Qualified theater management candidates have a wide range of options when seeking job offers."
The competition for managers has led to a high turnover rate.
Some candidates seek higher positions and higher pay, but once they are hired, sometimes their skills are insufficient for their added responsibilities, said Li Yunling, training director of operations at a theater owned by Hainan Airlines Co Ltd.
"Those people just use their previous work experience as a bargaining chip for higher positions and better pay," Li added.
Liu from EntGroup said the turnover rate in the theater business is high because of strong market demand yet low wages, especially in second- and third-tier cities.
Some managers leave for other theaters, while some leave the industry entirely, Liu said.
Yin Gang, president of Cine Asia (Shanghai) Ltd, a theater solutions and services consultancy, said, "Competition for competent theater managers results in higher operation costs, which is undoubtedly detrimental."
In the movie industry, theaters have more clout than film production and distribution companies, said Cai Ling, a cultural industry researcher with CIC Industry Research Center, a Shenzhen-based consultancy. The high managerial turnover rate in the sector will have a negative influence on the industry's development, he added.
In order to retain the managers they already have and to keep qualified candidates waiting in the wings, theaters have come up with different strategies.
Some train their employees as potential theater managers in advance, so as to fill vacancies in newly opened outlets or to respond immediately to unexpected turnovers, Liu said.
"We try not to recruit managers from outside our company. We prefer to maximize the potential of our own employees through proper training," Wang from Beijing Megabox said.
Lu Yi, business manager of Shanghai-based Century Universal Film Network Development Co Ltd, which operates 20 theaters across Shanghai, Beijing and Jiangsu province, said: "Although our company is not big, our turnover rate is small. Most of our theater managers have witnessed the development of the company and have become emotionally attached to it."
Yin from Cine Asia said, "The fundamental solution to the shortage is education, but currently, only a few Chinese universities and colleges offer theater management as a field of study."
Beijing Film Academy began offering courses in theater management in 2010 in response to the widening gap between supply and demand.
"As far as I know, it is the only example of theater management studies at the university level in China," Liu from Entgroup said.
The number of movie theaters increased to 3,680 by the end of 2012 from a year earlier, up 31.4 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from EntGroup.
National box office revenues reached 17.07 billion yuan last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 30.18 percent. Ticket sales from 25 theater chains exceeded 100 million yuan, of which six generated sales worth more than 1 billion yuan each, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
Seyfarth Shaw Opens Office in Shanghai
April 23rd, 2013Chicago-based labor and employment law firm Seyfarth Shaw announced on Wednesday their launch of a new office in Shanghai, China. The law firm intends the Shanghai office to function as a work hub covering the entire of Asia. The office in Shanghai will be managed and led by Wan Li from DLA Piper, who is one of the most high-profile China practitioners. The Shanghai office is Seyfarth Shaw’s second office outside the USA. The other one is in London.
J. Stephen Poor, the chairman and managing partner of Seyfarth said, “Opening our Shanghai office is part of aligning our international services with the needs of our clients … In speaking with our clients during the last 12 months, there has been overwhelming feedback for us to open an office in Shanghai to support our clients in some of our core practice areas. We are delighted to open the Shanghai office to help us better serve our clients in China.”
Darren Gardner, the chair of Seyfarth’s International Practice said, “It is an exciting development for us to open our office in Shanghai. This is an important next step in the evolution of our international service model, following the very successful opening of our London office in 2011.”
Speaking on the recruitment of Wan Li, Gardner said, “We are very pleased to welcome Wan Li to the firm. He is an experienced and highly-respected member of the Chinese legal community who we have known and worked closely with for mutual clients over a long period of time. We are very much looking forward to building out our team around him, especially in the employment and corporate practice areas.”
The new office of Seyfarth Shaw will be in Shanghai’s “Jing An” business district and located in the Jing An Kerry Centre Tower II.
51job, Inc. Files Annual Report on Form 20-F
April 22nd, 201351job, Inc. (Nasdaq: JOBS), a leading provider of integrated human resource services in China, announced today that its annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2012 has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The annual report on Form 20-F can be accessed through 51job's investor relations website at http://ir.51job.com.
The Company will provide a hard copy of its annual report on Form 20-F, which includes its audited financial statements, free of charge to its shareholders and ADS holders upon request. Requests should be directed to the Investor Relations Department at Building 3, No. 1387, Zhang Dong Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.
About 51job
51job, Inc. (Nasdaq: JOBS) is a leading provider of integrated human resource services in China with a strong focus on recruitment related services. Through online recruitment services at www.51job.com and print advertisements in 51job Weekly, 51job enables enterprises to attract, identify and recruit employees and connects millions of job seekers with employment opportunities. 51job also provides a number of other value-added human resource services, including business process outsourcing, training, executive search and compensation and benefits analysis. 51job has a call center in Wuhan and a nationwide sales office network spanning 25 cities across China.
SOURCE 51job, Inc.
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Watchdog seeks 'porn appraiser'
April 19th, 2013Got an eye for the obscene? A Chinese company is advertising a position that would require the successful candidate to spend his or her days trawling the Web for pornography.
Applications are flooding in for the job, which pays an annual salary of 200,000 yuan ($32,400), while the ad has aroused much discussion among netizens.
Safety Alliance, an organization that aims to clean up the online environment, published the job ad on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese micro-blogging website, on April 10, in which it seeks to recruit a chief appraiser who can identify obscene information on the Internet.
Besides this post, the alliance is also seeking Web editors and professionals who can identify fraud and malware online.
"But the position specializing in tackling online pornography is the most popular among applicants," said Yang Jilong, the alliance's human resources chief, adding that the organization is still under preparation and will be formally established next month.
The post requires applicants to have an ability to identify obscenity and pornography online and have a good knowledge of foreign languages and laws, according to Yang.
By Wednesday, the advertisement on the alliance's micro blog had been forwarded almost 130,000 times, and around 300,000 people left messages requesting further information about the job, he said.
The alliance has received more than 5,000 resumes, most for the position of the chief porn appraiser, Yang said.
Nearly 800 companies, including Baidu, Tencent and China Merchants Bank, have become members of the alliance, which aims to crack down on obscene information and explore better ways to prevent netizens, especially young people, from accessing unhealthy websites.
"As we find vulgar information and safety risks on websites, we'll remind Web users with an online label, while for those that we're not sure about, we'll ask law school professors and government administrators for help," he said.
The alliance has five employees to do selection work, "but we need a team leader, which is why we posted the ad", he said.
Cai Yifan, a 23-year-old applicant from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, said he heard about the job through Tencent Weibo and had already sent his resume.
The graduate, who majored in English and is proficient in Japanese, took part in an online test for the job, but claimed it was too difficult.
"The questions covered many fields, such as translation, legal knowledge and psychology. I'm interested in the job, but my chances of success are very small, as the standards were too high," he added.
Another applicant, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed. He said one of questions required them to name works of art that are often regarded as pornographic.
"But I think that people's opinions vary widely on an issue like this," he added.
Yang Shuo, a specialist with a decade of experience in cyber management, is not optimistic about the effectiveness of the new post, saying it is hard to distinguish unhealthy information.
Many Web companies employ people to select and delete obscene messages, "but it's impossible to classify all information online, because there is no legal definition of pornography in China," he explained.
Some foreign websites required users to provide their age or identity if they want to access certain content, said Yang Shuo.
"In this way, the website can confirm whether the user is a minor or not, and then provide suitable information for him or her," he said.
But Liu Honghui, a Beijing lawyer specializing in online cases, said that the new post would help to clean up China's online environment.
"Although there are no standards and the alliance's appraisal may not be authorized, it's still a good move. The increasing number of applicants means more people hope cyberspace can be a healthier place," he added.
Foxconn adds 10,000 Chinese assembly-line workers a week to meet new iPhone demand
April 17th, 2013Taiwan technology giant Foxconn has been increasing its assembly-line workforce in central China in preparation for the manufacture of a new iPhone, the company and media said Tuesday.
Foxconn has been hiring workers in its Zhengzhou plant and will continue to do so to “meet operational demands”, spokesman Simon Hsing said, without elaborating.
The Taiwanese company said Monday that it has added about 10,000 assembly-line workers a week in Zhengzhou, its major production facility for iPhones, since the last week of March.
A spokesman for Foxconn declined to elaborate about production plans, saying only that the company would continue to expand its workforce in Zhengzhou, where it currently employs some 300,000 people, to meet seasonal demand from clients.
The Wall Street Journal said the resumption of hiring in Zhengzhou, the company’s major production facility for iPhones, indicated that Apple is gearing up for production of a new device.
The newspaper quoted unnamed Foxconn executives as saying the company had increased workforce numbers at the plant to cater for a new iPhone launch.
Foxconn, the trade name for Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is the world’s largest contract electronics maker and assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, among others, in huge plants in China where it employs more than one million workers.
In February, Foxconn said it had decided to temporarily slow down the recruitment process due to an unprecedented rate of returning employees following the Chinese New Year holiday compared to previous years.
The Financial Times newspaper reported at the time that Foxconn had frozen hiring in China due to reduced orders for Apple’s iPhone 5, although the company denied such decisions were made based on any one customer.
China’s migrant workers go home for the annual Lunar New Year holiday and immediately after the long break companies typically report labour shortages as employees delay their return or fail to go back to their previous jobs.
Huaxi residents urged to spend locally
April 16th, 2013Residents of one of China's richest villages have been encouraged to spend at a loss-making local five-star hotel in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province.
Longxi International Hotel, which is located in Huaxi village, is noted for its luxury finishes, such as a sculpture of a bull in its lobby made of 1 metric ton of gold.
The hotel and cost 3 billion yuan ($485 million) to build - and that figure is taking its toll.
According to deputy general manager Dai Liming, the hotel can barely make ends meet even though it posted revenue of 150 million yuan in 2012 on the back of more than 2 million tourist visits to the village that year.
To solve the problem, the Huaxi government - which has a stake in the hotel - has given residents discount coupons that can only be used in the village, including its shopping centers and the hotel.
Many villagers choose to live in the hotel for as long as a month, according to Dai.
Wu Xie'en, chief of the village, said that Huaxi is going through an industrial upgrade and that any deficit in its traditional industries, such as tourism and hotels, should be accepted as a normal phenomenon.
Expats rank attractive Chinese cities
April 11th, 2013Results of the 2012 Amazing China - The Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Foreigners survey were released. Expats chose Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and others as China's 10 most attractive cities for foreigners.
The cities that made the top 10 list are: Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Kunming, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin, Xiamen and Qingdao.
Launched in September 2012, the voting invited 175,400 expats over the past year to appraise their favorite Chinese cities, and 1,050 have been polled for their opinions on four categories: policy, administration, working and living environments.
The expats polled in the survey conducted by International Talent Magazine include Chinese Friendship Award recipients, foreign scholars and scientists selected for the Recruitment Program of Global Experts, and other foreign professionals working in China. Those polled suggested many ways for Chinese cities to become more appealing destinations for global professionals.
*Shanghai*
“My impression is that essentially everywhere in China people are very friendly and helpful and medical care is perfect for foreigners, natural environment is great and its protection is well recognized as a major task today for the future. So, every one of those 49 cities should have been mentioned essentially for every category.
The main future task for China is probably coping with migration, and improving life andschooling in the countryside. But also this you know very well.” --- German mathematician Andreas Dress
*Beijing*
“It’s pretty easy for foreigners to live in a nice city, and the people in China are very friendly. I am enjoying my life in Beijing.” ---Former NBA player Stephon Marbury
*Shenzhen*
“Shenzhen government has been very productive about attracting, retaining and supporting foreign talent, more so than elsewhere I have seen in China.
The social and environmental infrastructure in Shenzhen is very attractive to foreigners. Transportation links and the proximity to Hong Kong are also most valuable.” ---British financial expert Richard David Jackson
*Suzhou*
“Since modernization started in China, Suzhou’s local government has been putting a great emphasis on investment, scientific research and other development projects.
Technology and Innovation park’s traffic is convenient, the park is close to Shang-hai. Its environment is good, clean, quiet, which is suitable for the development of the company.
Local residents are industrious and sincere, moreover, local government can timely care about our development, timely solve our difficulties in any side.” ---Russian physician Teplukhin Vladimir
*Kunming*
“The city is well managed by the local government, and they are concentrating on making it a better city for all its citizens, including foreigners.” ---New Zealand garden manager Lewis William Dagger
*Hangzhou*
“Hangzhou people are simple, friendly and kind. Hangzhou government at all levels is very practical and diligent. They respect knowledge, talent and creation.” ---German expert Bruno Klaus Filter
*Nanjing*
“Nanjing?from my first visit in 1987 , to now in 2012 has developed into a cosmopolitan city while maintaining Chinese culture and charm.” --- American expert Bikram S. Gill
*Tianjin*
“Tianjin, as a famous city, is historical, cultured, environmental, and most important city, which is very suitable to live in. I love Tianjin and regard Tianjin as my second hometown, and I will spread propaganda for Tianjin. I love Tianjin, wish a bright future for Tianjin, and wish happiness for the people of Tianjin.” --- Russian expert Eugeny Kaspersky
*Xiamen*
“I think Xiamen is one of the most attractive cities for foreigners who work in China. The city is very nice and wonderful, and this place is a very safe place for foreigners and their families.” ---South Korean engineer Won Ho Moon
*Qingdao*
“Qingdao City possesses a very good, quick-developing infrastructure, which combine with a beautiful architecture landscape ensemble and nature color.
I can see Qingdao City as a fine place for realization of creative projects, business, rest.” ---Russian expert Vladimir Kabanov
General labor shortage hits China
April 11th, 2013Recruitment for general laborers has become tight for factories in East China’s coastal areas, according to a report by Economic Information Daily.
Visits to industrial parks in Shanghai and recruitment sites in Baoshan, Jiading and Zhabei district found that the market demand for skilled workers can be satisfied after the Spring Festival, but it is very difficult to get general laborers.
“We need about 20 workers, and the salary we offer is quite competitive even for low-level workers. Not until the recruitment is half through, we have got all the technical workers we need, while over half of the general workers we need are still lacking,” said Jin Tao from the Human Resources Department of Shanghai Shuanggang Warehouse Co. “Low requirements in skills and harder work for assembly-line positions make it less attractive to the new generation of migrant workers.”
Demand for proficient workers at production lines is highest for enterprises, according to a survey by local labor and human resource departments.
“In order to get people, companies had to give intermediaries 500 yuan in fees every time they introduced a worker,” said Xu Jiangao, director of labor and social security center at Shanghai Xinzhuang Industrial Park.
New generations of migrant workers in pursuit of decent employment, the narrowing wage gap between east coast and the central and west regions, and the soaring commodity prices on the east coast all contribute to recruitment difficulties.
Compared with the first generation of migrant workers, employment expectations of the new generation have increased. In addition to remuneration, they pay more attention to the quality of employment, life experience and the realization of life values.
Wang Yong, of Guizhou, who came to Shanghai, wants to find a job that is technological, challenging and promising. “My first choice is administration work, and then technological work. General workers have no prospect for my career, I won’t be such a worker anymore.”
Due to the higher cost of living in economically developed areas, performance ratio of income and expenditure compared to the central and western regions seems lower, which makes it less attractive to low-skilled workers.
In addition, because of the higher level of social security in developed areas, labor cost is actually higher, which makes it difficult for some companies to give raises to general workers.
Zeng Xiangquan, dean of the School of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China, said that the Lewis turning point has come to China’s labor market.
The Lewis turning point is a concept by economist William Arthur Lewis. After surplus rural labor transfer is completed, the employment population will not be able to keep up with labor demand.
According to estimates, 16- to 24-year-old youth labor in China will decrease from 120 million in 2006 to 60 million in 2020, and the “golden” working population of 25 to 55 would fall significantly starting in 2015, which determines the labor market, especially the low-end labor market.
Experts believe that, after the Lewis turning point, China's demographic dividend will gradually subside, and structural imbalance of the labor market will further be highlighted.
It will effectively increase the labor supply if the country can lower the household registration threshold and provide the same health care, pension and children’s education to migrant workers, said Cai Fang, director of the Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
As for the demand for "decent employment" by migrant workers, the government should promote concepts and values for different professions and reduce unnecessary labor mismatches, said Zhao Dejian, who is in charge of the Joint Meeting Office of Shanghai Migrant Workers.
More disabled people newly employed in 2012
April 10th, 2013New progress has been made in the employment of the disabled, as China created new jobs for 329,000 disabled urbanites in 2012, according to a communique released Sunday.
As many as 299,000 handicapped urbanites received vocational training last year, while the number of vocational training bases inched up to 5,271 from 5,254 in 2011, according to the communique, which was released by the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF).
According to the CDPF, a total of 16,514 blind masseuses and 4,925 blind medical workers were trained in 2012, with 12,887 massage care institutions and 848 medical massage institutions located across the country.
Employment is crucial for helping China's massive handicapped population lead normal lives.
Statistics from the federation show that over 20 million Chinese have hearing disabilities, but a limited number of jobs are open for them in the country's fiercely competitive job market.
The communique showed that about 3.25 million disabled urbanites joined in the country's social pension insurance system for urban residents last year, accounting for 58.4 percent of the total disabled urban population.
In addition, about 13.34 million disabled people in rural areas were included in the new rural social endowment insurance system, taking up 63.8 percent of the total disabled rural population, the communique showed.
China's National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-2015) provides that the country will stabilize and expand employment for the disabled.
Economic recovery buoys building and service sectors
April 10th, 2013China's nonmanufacturing industries gained stronger growth momentum in March, supported by an accelerating economic recovery.
The nonmanufacturing purchasing managers' index, an indicator that reflects the business activities in the construction and service sectors, bounced back to 55.6 in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing on Wednesday. It was 54.5 in February and 56.2 in January.
A PMI above 50 means expansion, as opposed to contraction. The survey covers 1,200 enterprises.
Overall new orders increased 0.2 points to 52 percent month-on-month, and new export orders improved to 51.7 from 51.6, indicating stronger demand from both domestic and overseas markets, said Cai Jin, vice-chairman of the CFLP.
Input prices dropped to 55.3, 0.9 points less than in February, suggesting an easing of inflation pressure, the analyst said.
It is a signal of a strengthened growth impetus for the whole economy, along with the raised manufacturing PMI released on Monday, he said.
The March manufacturing PMI, which reflects factory production, rebounded to 50.9 from 50.1 in February.
The construction industry PMI rose to 62.5, up by 4.5 points from a month earlier and a 12-month high, as most migrant workers returned to cities to resume construction projects after the Spring Festival holiday in February.
"It suggests that construction enterprises have more positive expectations for the market situation this year," Cai said.
The service industry PMI slightly declined to 53.6 from February's 54.9. Business volumes for catering, retail, air transport and road transport industries shrank in March, said an NBS statement.
HSBC Holdings PLC reported a service industry PMI on Wednesday based on a separate survey. It registered a six-month high of 54.3 in March, up from 52.1 in February, because of the rebound of new business orders and employment.
Report names most open cities In China
April 9th, 2013Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Xiamen on the southeast coast are the three places in China with the greatest economic, technological and social openness, according to a report released Saturday at the Boao Forum for Asia.
According to the report, the first of its kind, Shenzhen, one of the earliest economic zones in Guangdong Province, is the most open. It has an edge on trade contacts, innovation and technology exchanges. Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong, is ranked second. Xiamen, in Fujian Province, was third, the Nanfang Daily reported.
All three places were among the first wave of regions in China to modernize their economies and open themselves to foreign investment, a process that started in the 1980s.
The International Cooperation Center of National Development and Reform Commission released the report, which rates Chinese cities' openness to doing business internationally. The ranking list includes 32 cities, including 27 capital cities and five other cities with provincial-level economic management authority. The evaluation is based on 48 indicators rating the economy, technology and societal openness, trade contacts, foreign currency deposits and direct investments from foreign merchants.
Hangzhou and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, Dalian in Liaoning Province and Qingdao in Shandong Province came next.
These eight cities are all from coastal or eastern provinces, suggesting that a city's openness level is closely connected to regional openness and development. It also highlights the problem of China's imbalanced development regionally, said the report.
Cities taking the last five spots of the list are all from western inland China, namely Hohhot in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Lhasa in Tibet Autonomous Region, Lanzhou in Gansu Province, Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Xining in Qinghai Province, according to China News Service.
The western part of China is not likely to become a hot spot of foreign investments due to its geographical location, Ding Yifan, researcher at the Institute of World Development under the Development Research Center of the State Council, told the Global Times.
Most foreign investment in eastern coastal areas are focused on raw material processing, which doesn't suit western China, Ding said, adding that the west, which has remarkable sunshine, should seek openness based on its own unique qualities, such as agricultural product processing.
Citing the eastern coastal areas' great achievements in terms of openness, Ding pointed out that excess capacity is a common problem in China and the east should not continue seeking foreign investment targeting raw material processing,
"Openness in the service industry is the trend," said Ding. "Currently the service industry in China isn't open enough in the sense that the market in the field is so large and the potential is also significant."
Microsoft to launch first Chinese mainland innovation center
April 9th, 2013Microsoft is expected to establish an innovation center in south China's Hainan Province, the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland, according to an agreement signed between Microsoft and the Hainan provincial government on Sunday.
Based on Microsoft's leading technology platform, the Microsoft Innovation Center will attract software enterprises in the fields of tourism and agriculture to Hainan, said Li Guoliang, deputy governor of Hainan.
Li said the government hopes to nurture an ecology-related industrial software chain worth 5 billion yuan (798 million U.S. dollars).
Microsoft will also build a "Microsoft IT Academy" in Hainan to boost the training of IT experts.
Microsoft will carry out strategic cooperation with Hainan regarding technological development, software training and intellectual property rights protection, according to a memorandum of understanding inked by the Hainan provincial government and Microsoft (China) Co., Ltd. on the sidelines of the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia.
Microsoft Group Vice President Orlando Ayala said global tourism hot spots are moving to the Asia-Pacific region, adding that the company's cooperation with Hainan will prop up the province's efforts to become a major international tourist destination.
Microsoft Innovation Centers are state-of-the-art facilities designed to foster collaboration on innovative research, technology and software solutions, involving a combination of government, academic and industry participants.
Minimum wage hike helps workers as costs go up
April 8th, 2013Old Yang, a 55-year-old security guard in a residential complex, has been counting the days until his next paycheck. Effective this month, the minimum wage in Shanghai rises to 1,620 yuan (US$261) a month from 1,450 yuan.
Like most low-wage workers in the city, Old Yang is finding it hard to cope with rising prices for groceries, medicine, transport and the other basic necessities of life.
Sitting in the gate room of a residential compound on Anguo Road in Hongkou District, a cigarette glowing in his left hand, Old Yang said “food, transportation, tuition, water, gas and power bills. You have to pay for everything with the minimum wage.”
Old Yang lost his job during the global financial crisis in 2008 and found work as a security guard through a government-sponsored re-employment program aimed at helping jobless people in their 40s and 50s.
“Many jobless people chose to stay at home after the crisis,” Old Yang said. “I chose not to because my family needs money and I want to get a pension after retirement.”
His wife works part-time to help defray the cost of a son in college.
On March 29, the Shanghai government increased the minimum monthly wage by 11.7 percent, or 170 yuan. The minimum payment for part-time employment was lifted to 14 yuan from 12.5 yuan an hour, according to the government notice that took effect on April 1.
Nationally, Shanghai has the highest minimum wage of all 13 provinces and major cities in China. Its most recent rate of increase, however, isn’t as high as in some provinces, such as Jiangxi Province, which showed the biggest increase this year at 41.4 percent, according to People’s Daily.
The minimum wage in Shanghai has more than quadrupled, from 352 yuan, in the last 15 years. By 2020, China aims to double the per-capita income of both urban and rural residents from 2010 levels and narrow the gap between the rich and poor, according to a report from the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that ended last November.
“The minimum wage will also be doubled by that time,” said Jennifer Feng, a senior human resource analyst with 51job.com, a Nasdaq-listed headhunting firm. “But you have to remember we are talking about net income. Actual take-home pay may be less, when social insurance fees and other mandatory costs are included.”
In its Five-Year Plan for the period ending 2015, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, stipulates annual increases of at least 13 percent.
“I think the latest increase is a balanced result, which takes into account the rising cost of living and the payroll tolerance capacity of employers,” Feng said. The risk, she said, is that employers, especially in manufacturing, may lay off staff or recruit lower-paid workers to replace experienced ones in order to lower their operating costs.
There were a dozen security guards in Old Yang’s residential compound last December. Now, there are only six.
“Maybe our boss knew he couldn’t afford so many of us, anticipating that the minimum wage would rise, so he fired them earlier,” Old Yang said.
He said his employer tends to hire local people like him because their social insurance fees are paid for by the government and the neighborhood committee under the re-employment plan.
Still, migrant workers are also commonly hired as security guards and cleaners in Shanghai. One such colleague of Old Yang’s, surnamed Zheng, lives in the basement of a high-rise in the housing complex, along with his wife, who works as a cleaner. Zheng, a native from central China’s Henan Province, declined to give his full name.
Zheng said the accommodation is free and he doesn’t have to pay utilities.
“Rent can gobble up nearly half of the minimum wage in Shanghai,” Zheng said. “The city is really too expensive to live in.”
For employers, the picture is mixed. A rise in minimum wages tends to make higher-paid workers think they should get raises, too. Feng said as wages rise, many employers are caught in a bind. Amid slower economic growth, they are under pressure to make more money, and wages account for a big chunk of operating cost. She suggests the government help share the burden by reducing business taxes or by defraying part of the cost of hiring people.
Beijing is booming, but talent is leaving due to bad air
April 8th, 2013Some days it is so thick that you can scarcely see across the street. Other days its acrid smell catches at the back of your throat. More than one day in two in recent months, it has been officially unsafe to go outside without a face mask.
Three months of shockingly bad air pollution, known to foreigners here as the “airpocalypse,” is now prompting growing numbers of expatriates and their families to leave China, and some companies to offer hazard pay to keep them here, according to executive recruiters, doctors, and business leaders.
And for the first time, they add, ambitious young Chinese executives, too, are seeking to build their careers in more hospitable cities, driven to fresher pastures by the capital’s foul air.
Though foreigners leave Beijing for many motives, says Jim Leininger, principal consultant at the Beijing office of Towers Watson, a global human resources firm, “the litany of reasons usually starts with air quality. It’s a very important factor.”
“Just yesterday I got two e-mails from people who said they had been in Beijing for several years, the air quality was nuts, and they wanted to go back to the States,” adds Kitty Vorisek, executive vice president of DHR, a head hunting company with five offices in China. Such requests, she says, have snowballed in recent months.
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The past three months have seen the worst air pollution on record in Beijing. For a couple of days in January, the levels of PM 2.5 particulate matter (2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, which reaches deepest into the lungs) were 40 times higher than those categorized as safe by the World Health Organization.
On 35 days during February and March, more than every other day, the US embassy’s air pollution monitor detected levels deemed “very unhealthy,” “hazardous,” or “beyond index.”
“Air quality is one of the most negative things about living in Beijing, especially for families with children,” says Mr. Leininger. “It’s all you hear about every day.”
“I’ve talked to a lot of parents who won’t be renewing their employment contracts when they are up,” says Richard Saint Cyr, a doctor at Beijing United Family Hospital who specializes in air quality issues. “For many of them it is a very reasonable decision.”
FOREIGN BUSINESS COMMUNITY TAKING A HIT
The trend is anecdotal for the time being; nobody appears to have compiled any statistics yet, but human resources experts say the movement is clear and a handful of departures have attracted attention in the foreign business community.
A senior lawyer for BMW and a top Volkswagen executive both insisted on being repatriated in January, and when anyone leaves “we inevitably hear, nearly every time, that one of the contributing reasons is the air pollution,” says Adam Dunnett, head of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.
The traditional outflow of expatriates in the summer, at the end of the school year, is “almost guaranteed” to be up on last year, predicts Max Price, China partner at Antal, an executive consultancy. But pollution is not the only reason, he points out; many international firms are increasingly replacing foreign executives with locally hired Chinese recruits.
That might become more difficult in the future, observers suggest. Some young Chinese executives, who have long seen Beijing as a high-paying mecca where the rewards are worth the hardships, are beginning to think differently.
REASON TO GO SOUTH
Appealing to them are companies such as Meizu, a manufacturer of mobile phone handsets based in the southern seaside town of Zhuhai.
Two months ago, the firm launched a “Blue Sky Recruitment” campaign in Beijing, placing ads in business tower block elevators around the city to tempt young IT engineers into moving south.
“Do you dare to pursue a life with blue sky and white clouds?” read a Meizu poster at a Beijing jobs fair last week. “Welcome to air you can breathe with a PM 2.5 reading of 27.”
“Young Chinese professionals are looking not just at pay but at quality of life issues too,” says Mr. Price, whose own girlfriend has just moved from Beijing to the coastal city of Qingdao to escape the pollution here. “They are very curious about this stuff, more eyes are open, and I can see this increasing.”
Meanwhile, human resources departments are scrambling to deal with the air quality issue for their companies’ employees, buying air purifiers, restoring hardship allowances, and asking for expert advice.
“Our hospital has been flooded with requests from companies and embassies for health talks,” says Dr. Saint Cyr. “A lot of businessmen are very, very worried about this.”
That has made it harder to attract new talent from abroad, says Ms. Vorisek. In the past six months, she says, health questions have become “much more prevalent” among candidates for jobs in Beijing. Some companies, according to Price, are even paying American recruits "danger money" to attract them.
LONG TERM DAMAGE TO BEIJING?
This could do long term damage to Beijing’s future, worries Huang Xiaoping, head of Risfond, a head-hunting company that specializes in recruiting foreigners to Chinese companies. “It will be a big challenge for Beijing to attract foreign talent if the air quality does not improve,” he warns. “Environmental problems could become a big obstacle to future economic growth.”
The Chinese government says it is aware of the threat. Most of the PM 2.5 pollution comes from power generating plants and cars. The head of Beijing’s Environmental Bureau, Chen Tian, promised in an interview this week with the Beijing News that new automobile emissions standards to be introduced in July will help reduce pollution, and that the construction of new power stations outside Beijing will be sped up so that coal-burning generators can be shut down.
In February, the State Council, China’s cabinet, pledged new fuel standards to make gasoline and diesel less polluting.
Similar promises in the past, however, have not always been kept.
Beijing is losing its pre-eminence in China’s economy, and thus its attractiveness to high-flying foreign executives, as second-tier cities develop specialized industries, says Price. “How fast that happens depends on how quickly they get hold of the pollution issue,” he predicts.
“Beijing will always be the capital of the fastest growing big economy in the world,” he says. “But it is losing its attraction."
China has 48 million sci-tech personnel
April 7th, 2013China's has 48 million people working in the fields of science and technology, but the pool of personnel still lacks high-level scientists for strategic needs, a former human resources official has revealed.
Though the numbers of both sci-tech current workers and graduates outnumber those of the United States, China is not a great power of talents, Xu Songtao, former deputy head of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said at a seminar on Monday.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Science and Technology, China has just over 10,000 people classed as high-level innovative talents, said Xu, also an adviser to the China Talent Research body.
Despite China being a marine leader, the number of Chinese scientists registered in a database of oceanic talents is less than 100, one-twentieth of that of the United States, he added.
"The innovative capabilities and competitiveness of Chinese talents are also weak," Xu said, urging officials at all levels to pay great attention to the nurturing of talented people and to initiate a number of recruitment projects.
He also suggested creating a competitive environment to eliminate the incapable as well as to form a reserve of strategic talents.
Report: Foxconn Worker Jumps From Factory Roof Amidst Job Cuts
April 2nd, 2013At least one employee at Foxconn, the manufacturing giant best known for making Apple products, has reportedly jumped from a factory roof in Shenzhen, China due to concerns over job security.
According to AppleInsider, which cited reports from Chinese micro-blogging website Sina Weibo, a female worker jumped from the roof at Foxconn's Shenzhen factory this past Friday at 9 a.m. local time but survived. By noon, three other employees had also climbed to the roof of the building and were threatening to jump, the blog said.
According to other reports, a second person jumped off the roof, though there is no word about their condition.
In a statement to PCMag on Monday, Foxconn confirmed that a worker dispute occurred, but did not address whether anyone had jumped from the building.
"We can confirm that on March 29, three employees at our campus in Longhua, Shenzhen were involved in a workplace dispute over the company's decision to offer them an opportunity to relocate to another Foxconn China facility as part of a shift in production linked to their business group," the statement reads. "As a result of that dispute, the employees in question gathered at the top of a campus building and stayed there until local law enforcement authorities arrived at the scene. The dispute was resolved peacefully and no one was injured. Any reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate."
Unfortunately, suicide at Foxconn is not a new phenomenon. At least 14 Foxconn workers in Shenzen and Chengdu have taken their own lives in a string of worker suicides since early 2010. Foxconn has since forced employees to sign a pledge promising that they won't commit suicide and installed nets outside factory dormitories to deter potential jumpers.
The most recent wave of employee discontent reportedly stems from recent job cuts, lowered wages, and the end of some free amenities. Foxconn is said to have been encouraging some employees to leave the company as part of an effort to cut employee costs.
The electronics maker last month suspended recruitment of new hires, but denied that the hiring freeze was related to slowing iPhone 5 demand.
As of December, working conditions seemed to be improving at Foxconn's mainland China factories. A New York Times article detailed positive changes at Foxconn's China-based plants, which have been criticized by global labor rights groups and were audited last year by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), at Apple's behest.
Editor's Note: This story was updated on Monday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern with comment from Foxconn.
Report: Lenovo to design own chips
April 1st, 2013China’s second largest smartphone seller Lenovo will reportedly foray into the chip design segment. The company is expected to design own chips for smartphones and tablets.
“Lenovo is looking to expand its IC design team from 10 to 100 by the mid of this year,” EE Times quoted an industry source with direct knowledge of Lenovo’s recruitment of chip designers. The PC maker will be hiring 40 engineers in Shenzhen and 60 in Beijing.
This initiative appears to be driven by the company’s desire to control its own destiny in smartphones and tablets--a la HiSilicon at Huawei. (HiSilicon is a chip division of Huawei.)
Unlike Samsung or Apple, Lenovo has a checkered history of adopting different apps processors from a variety of suppliers for its smartphones. The company adopted MediaTek’s MT6573 in the Lenovo A60 smartphone in 2011, while it became the first company--outside Samsung --in 2012 to design in Samsung Electronics’ quad-core apps processor Exynos 4 in its LePhone K860.
Lenovo, however, announced earlier this year a 5.5-inch smartphone, dubbed K900, by integrating Intel’s first dual-core Atom chip for phones. The Atom Z2580 is said to have roughly doubled the CPU performance of Intel’s single-core Medfield processor used in Lenovo’s K800 phone, which was introduced a year ago.
While Lenovo might have been enjoying its freedom in choosing the best apps processor available on the market, reality bit hard, sources said, when Samsung Electronics refused to supply its newest version of the Exynos apps processor to the Chinese company.
Indeed, on the growing Chinese smartphone market last year, Lenovo became Samsung’s biggest rival--with Samsung holding a 17.7 per cent share, with Lenovo at 13.2 per cent and Apple at 11 per cent.
Meanwhile, Lenovo has been beefing up its senior management team to prepare itself to become a leading consumer electronics vendor.
The world's second-largest supplier of personal computers last month (February) named Jerry Yang, the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo, as a "board observer.” Further, Lenovo added Tudor Brown, one of the founders of ARM, as a non-executive director to Lenovo's roster of seasoned veterans.
It’s far from clear if an internal group of mere 100 IC engineers can make a dent in the already crowded apps processor market. And yet, as Shao Yang, CMO of Huawei Device, recently said in an interview with EE Times, having a chip division of its own could help [the handset company] “negotiate better with other semiconductor companies.”
China launches its own 'best job in the world'
March 29th, 2013A Chinese city is searching for a foreign traveller to become a "modern Marco Polo", with a 40,000 euro ($A50,893) salary on offer to the winner.
Hangzhou in eastern China, renowned for its canals and bridges, was described as the "most beautiful and elegant city in the world" by the Venetian traveller, whose 13th-century journal was one of the first detailed accounts of China written by a European.
Now the city is "calling people around the world to follow Marco Polo's steps", said Chen Li, of Hangzhou's tourism commission.
The promotion is akin to Australia's "best jobs in the world" campaigns, the first of which required the winner to live on a tropical island for six months.
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The new Marco Polo will be recruited via Facebook - which is banned in China - and will undergo intensive training before being flown to the city for a 15-day trip, the tourism commission said in a media release.
Duties include making a short video about Hangzhou and promoting the city online. Both men and women are eligible, it said.
"To be a modern Marco Polo is a very interesting job, it will maybe change their life," Chen said. "They may find inner peace, like Kung Fu Panda."
The Travels of Marco Polo, composed in 1298, described a journey across Asia through realms of pygmies, exotic plants and cannibals.
The book had an enormous impact on European perceptions of the continent, but modern historians have questioned the veracity of Polo's account, and some query whether he reached China at all.
China was the world's third most visited country in 2011, behind the United States and France, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, with 57.6 million international tourism arrivals.
Meanwhile, more than a quarter of a million entries have been submitted for Australia's ''Best Jobs in the World'' promotion in just a week.
Tourism Australia is offering their pick of the best working holiday jobs to showcase the country.
Roles include being a ''funster'' in NSW and an outback adventurer in Northern Territory.
Winners will be paid $100,000 each for a six-month contract starting in June.
In the seven days since the launch, Tourism Australia has received 275,000 applications from 150,000 people in 196 countries.
Applicants can apply for more than one job.
About 38,000 entries came from the US, 33,000 from France, 32,000 from the UK and 30,000 from Italy.
The most popular jobs are South Australia's wildlife caretaker, NSW's chief funster and Queensland's park ranger.
The aim of the competition is to boost the number of working holiday tourists visiting Australia.
About 1.6 million people under the age of 30 travel to Australia each year, making up just over a quarter of all tourists and contributing about $12 billion a year to the economy.
Entries close 9am (AEDT) on April 10 and winners will be announced on June 21.
Visit www.australia.com/bestjobs to enter.
AUSTRALIA'S 'BEST JOBS IN THE WORLD'
Wildlife caretaker, SA - wake up the kangaroos, swim with dolphins and sea lions, assist with conservation projects
Park ranger, Qld - check water temps, protect and promote native plants and animals, walk in the rainforest, visit waterfalls
Chief funster, NSW - promote food, lifestyle and sports events across the state, work behind the scenes of some of Sydney’s biggest festivals
Lifestyle photographer, Melbourne - create city and country photo shoots, meet local identities, designers and artists, explore the city’s hidden secrets, share trends
Outback adventurer, NT - meet the locals, journey through the outback, sleep under the stars in a bush camp, taste traditional bush foods
Taste master, WA - eat your way around the state, forage for the finest produce, uncover the best bars and restaurants.
Q&A on China’s Monetary Policy and Financial Reform
March 28th, 2013The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced on March 16 that it had re-appointed Zhou Xiaochuan as the chief of China’s central bank, making Zhou the longest-serving central bank chief since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The re-appointment of Zhou, who has held the position since 2002, signals the country’s bid to ensure policy continuity amid current global uncertainties, while deepening the country’s on-going financial reform.
Before the reassignment, Zhou and three other deputy governors of the PBOC attended a press conference regarding China’s monetary policy and financial reform on March 13. Selected questions and answers from the press conference can be found below.
Q: What kind of monetary policy will China’s central bank adopt?
A: China’s monetary policy mainly seeks to accomplish the following four objectives:
* Keeping low inflation
* Facilitating economic growth
* Encouraging employment
* Balancing international payments
* Where the four objectives are unable to be accomplished simultaneously, the central bank needs to adopt a monetary policy that can draw a balance among the four purposes.
In the Government Work Report presented by Premier Wen Jiabao, he suggests the country set its 2013 GDP growth at 7.5 percent, and the target for inflation (as measured by the CPI) at 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, the broad money supply (M2), which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, is suggested to grow by 13 percent.
The proposed growth of M2 is lower than that of last year, indicating that the monetary policy will stay prudent and neutral, and meanwhile, the government will put more emphasis on keeping consumer prices stable.
Q: Will China’s M2 growth present an inflation risk?
A: Countries with high savings rates and a heavy reliance on indirect financing usually have high M2 growth, which is the case with China. However, the high M2 to GDP ratio will not necessarily create an inflation threat. Japan, for instance, has an even higher ratio than China, yet still suffers from deflation rather than inflation.
For the central bank, stabilizing consumer prices is its first priority, the M2 figures will not necessarily put consumer price stability in jeopardy. If the growth of M2 can be controlled at a reasonable level, it won’t lead to sudden price hikes.
Q: Will the central bank support Taiwan to become an offshore RMB market?
A: The People’s Bank of China and the currency administration institution of Taiwan signed the Cross-Straits Cooperation Memorandum in Currency Settlement on August 31 last year. According to the Memorandum, financial institutions on both sides could undertake currency settlement through a correspondent bank or a clearing bank. The two sides may also discuss a currency swap agreement if cross-Strait trade demands a higher level of financial cooperation.
However, whether Taiwan will become an offshore RMB center needs to be decided by the market. Some important financial centers might become offshore RMB trading markets in the future as a result of market demands and competition.
Q: Will the central government provide a better environment for the opening of capital accounts? Are there going to be any adjustments on the opening schedule?
A: The Global Financial Crisis has created a special opportunity for the rapid growth of the cross-border usage of RMB in trade and investment, which is mainly due to a confidence crisis with the world’s major currencies, and closer regional cooperation between China and other economic entities.
With the development of cross-border usage of RMB, there will be greater demand for the exchangeability of RMB under capital accounts. However, making the RMB convertible under capital accounts is quite complicated. China has been pursuing the free exchange of RMB since 1993. Currently, the RMB has become convertible under current accounts, and its convertibility under capital accounts will be promoted step by step.
It is also important to notice that the convertibility of RMB under capital accounts will not only help promote RMB internationalization, but will also boost the development of an open-market economy in the country and strengthen confidence of domestic and foreign investors in the Chinese currency.
Sales and marketing jobs in demand
March 27th, 2013The Chinese central government's call to boost domestic consumption has helped to make sales and marketing positions hot in the job market, according to Kelly Services' Salary Guide Greater China 2013 report released in late February.
Although tense competition in the Chinese market has restricted growth of many organizations, the report found that workers who remain in sales and marketing positions can expect to receive a 5 to 10 percent salary increase in 2013. Those changing jobs can expect to receive a 20 to 30 percent salary increase.
In the retail sector, sales, marketing, merchandising, store management, and operations positions remain in demand, although some headcounts were frozen in the first quarter of this year.
The human resources sector is equally promising. Top HR candidates with proven experience across all disciplines are in demand. Candidates who change positions can expect to receive a 20 to 30 percent increase in salary while the average increase for candidates remaining with their firms is over 10 percent.
Meanwhile, positive growth trends of the US automotive industry will be a boon for the Chinese market, which is expected to grow at a steady 8 to 10 percent clip this year. Top candidates will be needed in the industry in R&D positions, which are important for localizing manufacturing and product development.
While some information technology companies' hiring plans will be frozen in 2013 due to the economic downturn, the Chinese IT industry is nevertheless expected to face a shortage of 2 to 5 million workers in the next 10 years. Positions pertaining to the 3G platform, cellphone operating systems and e-commerce are expected to remain in high demand.
"We are happy to report that in spite of some concerns, we are not seeing any significant slowdown in the China labor market," said Nick Lesser, general manager of Professional & Technical Division at Kelly Services, China Operations.
"In fact, we are finding that in addition to steady demand for resources in tier-one cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, clients are expressing increased interest in expanding their operations all around China," Lesser said.
"The salary ranges in our guide are based on actual transactions between employers and employees, and represent an accurate reflection of the marketplace," he said. "Market-driven salaries are of course crucial, but only by creating a meaningful employer-of-choice culture is it possible to attract and retain talented staff."
Pacific Online Limited Announces Full Year 2012 Earnings Results
March 27th, 2013HONG KONG, March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Online Ltd. (HKSE: 543) ("Pacific Online," the "Company," or the "Group"), a leading internet content provider in China, today announced its financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2012. The Group will host a conference call to discuss these results at 9:00AM Hong Kong time on Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Dial-in details are provided at the bottom of this release.
Year Ended December 31, 2012 Financial Highlights
* Total revenues increased 11.8% year-over-year to RMB715.6 million
* Net profit increased 3.3% year-over-year to RMB 236.5 million
* Proposed final cash dividend of RMB15.26 cents per ordinary share
"For the full year 2012, we are pleased to report an 11.8% increase in revenues and a rise of 3.3% in net profit," stated Mr. Waiyan Lam , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Online Limited. "These results demonstrate the cautious, yet profitable approach we have taken to grow our business, despite the uncertain macroeconomic conditions in China, pressure from competition, and increases in operating costs."
"PCauto, our largest vertical portal in terms of revenue, delivered revenue growth of 17.3% in 2012. The portal benefitted from the across the board increases seen in the advertising budgets of automobile manufacturers due to intensified competition in the retail market. However, we also saw increased competition from both vertical and diversified portals. Our auto business was temporarily affected during the second half of the year as a result of the dispute between the Chinese and Japanese governments. This caused a brief decrease in marketing spending by some manufacturers, though the impact was temporary as advertiser spending quickly returned to pre-dispute levels. To successfully navigate through these challenges, we worked to strengthen the quality of our content, which helped us increase user stickiness and brand equity, and remain relevant for our users."
"PConline, our IT portal, continued its stable development in 2012 thanks in part to relatively steady advertising spending in the IT sector amid intensified competition. The political dispute between China and Japan last year also had a minor temporary impact on our IT business. We were able to marginally expand by shifting our advertising product mix to adapt to the market. With more spending coming from mobile device manufacturers and other similar areas, we will continue to devote resources to this important segment as demand for consumer electronic devices in China continues to expand in line with the rising middle class."
"Revenue from our female-focused PClady portal increased 13.9% in 2012. As more and more women move online to research and purchase luxury and brand name products, we are devoting resources to this area in order to attract traffic from users who start their shopping experience with our portal. In addition, we have re-aligned our editorial team in order to strengthen our content, developed a variety of brand-building opportunities, and strengthened cooperation with e-commerce companies both online and offline."
"Our other vertical portals, including PCgames, PCbaby, and PChouse, continued to improve content and attract users during 2012 as they gradually build scale. While these brands remain relatively small, their user bases remain robust and continue to grow as new features and content are added. We expect that the revenue contribution from these portals will increase in the coming years."
"Last year, we continued to invest in the development of mobile applications for each of our vertical portals. We also launched our third free online magazine for PClady on Apple's iPad which mirrors and expands on the content that is already available on the portal. Our online magazines generated a significant buzz in the market last year and garnered positive feedback. In particular, our PChouse magazine was named one of the Products of the Year by Apple's Mac App store in China. With the increased viewership that we attracted in 2012 along with continued development of our brand, we believe we are bettered positioned to capture the rapidly growing mobile internet market in 2013."
"In anticipation of the changing competitive environment, we believe that we have taken the right measures to address current and potential challenges. We are committed to our long-term strategy and will continue to invest more on marketing to increase our brand value, strengthen our management team, and improve the quality of our content to increase user stickiness. This will help to ensure the success of Pacific Online Limited over the long-term."
Proposed Final Dividend
The Board has recommended the payment of a final cash dividend of RMB15.26 cents per ordinary share for the year ended December 31, 2012 (2011: RMB14.78 cents), subject to the shareholders' approval at the Company's forthcoming annual general meeting to be held on Monday, May 20, 2013. The Proposed Final Dividend will be paid in cash on June 6, 2013 to shareholders whose names appear on the register of members of the Company at the close of business on May 29, 2013.
Full year 2012 Financial Results
Revenue
Revenue increased 11.8% from RMB640.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 to RMB715.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2012.
In 2012, the Ministry of Finance in China launched a pilot program to gradually transition the taxation system from a business tax ("BT") to a value- added tax ("VAT"). Pursuant to this program, the Group's advertising revenue in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou is now fully subject to VAT. For purposes of comparison, our reported revenue growth for 2012 would have been 15.8% had the BT remained applicable to our business during the year.
Revenue for PCauto, the Group's automobile portal, increased 17.3% from RMB293.9 million in 2011 to RMB344.6 million in 2012. According to statistics from the China Passenger Car Association, passenger car sales in China grew 6.8 percent to 14.68 million vehicles in 2012. PCauto was able to outperform car industry growth because automobile advertisers continued to allocate more of their marketing budgets to digital media.
Revenue for PConline, the Group's IT and consumer electronics portal, increased 3.3% from RMB257.5 million in 2011 to RMB266.1 million in 2012. The increase in revenue from PConline was mainly due to the overall increase in advertising spending from IT sector customers, including smartphone and tablet manufacturers.
Revenue for PClady, the Group's lady and fashion portal, increased 13.9% from RMB51.8 million in 2011 to RMB59.0 million in 2012. The rise in revenue mainly reflected increased demand in the women's segment, especially for luxury and fashion goods.
Revenue for other operations, including the PCgames, PCbaby and PChouse portals, increased by 24.3% from RMB37.0 million in 2011 to RMB45.9 million in 2012. Revenue from these segments increased significantly due to advertisers increasingly look to the internet as an effective platform to promote and market their products and brands.
As a percentage of total revenue, PCauto accounted for 45.9% in 2011 and 48.2% in 2012, whereas PConline accounted for 40.2% in 2011 and 37.2% in 2012, PClady accounted for 8.1% in 2011 and 8.2% in 2012 and other operations accounted for 5.8% in 2011 and 6.4% in 2012. The Group continued to diversify its revenue base across the different industry segments.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue increased 5.0% from RMB197.9 million in 2011 to RMB207.7 million in 2012. The gross profit margin was 69.1% in 2011 and 71.0% in 2012.
The slight increase in cost of revenue was due to increases in personnel related expenses, higher sales commissions and increases in branch operating expenses during the year. This was partially offset by lower business tax charges through the implementation of the business tax/value-added tax reform policy, fully applied to us in late 2012.
Selling and Marketing Costs
Selling and marketing costs increased 32.5% from RMB86.3 million in 2011 to RMB114.4 million in 2012. The increase was mainly due to increases in staff costs and marketing expenses.
Administrative Expenses
Administrative expenses increased by 37.6% from RMB48.7 million in 2011 to RMB67.1 million in 2012. The increase in administrative expenses was primarily due to increases in hiring and salary, traveling expenses and higher provisions for the impairment of trade receivables during the full year 2012.
Product Development Expenses
Product development expenses increased by 38.3% from RMB28.7 million in 2011 to RMB39.7 million in 2012. The increase was primarily due to greater staff recruitment in research and development.
Operating Profit before Share-based Compensation Expenses (non-GAAP)
Operating profit before share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) was RMB297.9 million in 2012, representing 3.0% increase from RMB289.2 million in 2011.
Finance Income and Cost
Net finance income was RMB5.3 million in 2011 and RMB4.7 million in 2012. The decrease in net finance income was mainly due to lower interest income on bank deposits.
Income Tax Expense
Income tax expenses increased 2.6% from RMB58.5 million in 2011 to RMB60.0 million in 2012. The increase in income tax expense was primarily due to a modest increase in operating profit during the year.
Net Profit
Net profit increased 3.3% from RMB228.9 million in 2011 to RMB236.5 million in 2012.
Liquidity and Financial Resources
As of December 31, 2012, the Group had short-term deposits and cash totaling RMB439.9 million, compared with RMB432.2 million as of December 31, 2011.
In 2012, net cash flow from operating activities was RMB199.4 million, net cash used in investing activities was RMB23.3 million, net cash used in financing activities was RMB168.0 million. The Group had a net increase in cash and cash equivalents of RMB8.1 million for the year 2012.
In 2011, net cash flow from operating activities was RMB218.2 million, net cash used in investing activities was RMB84.7 million, net cash used in financing activities was RMB134.5 million. The Group had a net increase in cash and cash equivalents of RMB168.4 million for the year 2011.
The Company had no external debt as of December 31, 2012 and 2011.
Business Outlook
Looking ahead, the Group will continue to adapt to current trends and technologies in order to ensure that it is keeping up with the changing needs of its operating environment. In view of the government's policy on expanding domestic consumption through urbanization in the coming years, and the continual growth of the online advertising market, the Group is confident that the potential for future business opportunities remains strong. The Group is devoted to enhancing and developing the content on its existing vertical portals, and to improving its brand recognition in order to strengthen competitiveness and provide business growth potential. The Group will also continue to invest in mobile applications, with the aim of enhancing long-term shareholder value.
Conference Call
Management will host a conference call to discuss the results at 9:00 AM Hong Kong time on March 27, 2013 (9:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, March 26, 2013). Mr. Lam Wai Yan , Chairman and CEO, and Mr. Wang Ta-Hsing , Chief Financial Officer, will discuss the results and take questions following the prepared remarks.
The dial-in details for the live conference call are as follows:
- Hong Kong Toll Free Number:
+852 3027 5500
- Mainland China Toll Free Number:
8008 0361 03
- U.S. Toll Free Number:
+1 866 978 9970
- International dial-in number:
+852 3027 5500
Passcode: 928856 #
A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the investor relations section of the Group's website at: http://corp.pconline.com.cn.
A telephone replay of the call will be available for thirty days after the conclusion of the conference call. The dial-in details for the replay are as follows:
- Hong Kong Number
+852 3027 5520
- U.S. Toll Free Number:
+1 866 753 0743
- International dial-in number:
+852 3005 5520
Passcode: 149653 #
About Pacific Online Ltd. (corp.pconline.com.cn)
Pacific Online is one of the leading Internet content providers in the PRC in terms of total advertising revenue. The Company operates six vertically-integrated portals, which, according to industry practice, are portals that focus on specific content. Among the Company's portals are PConline, one of the largest portals in the PRC specializing in IT product-related content, and PCauto, one of the largest portals in the PRC specializing in automobile-related content.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those discussed in the press release. In addition, any projections about the Company's future performance represent management's estimates as of today March 26, 2013. The Company assumes no obligation to update these projections in the future as business and market conditions change.
For further information, please contact:
Pacific Online Ltd.
Hudson Wong
Company Secretary
Tel: +852 2121 0634
Email: hudson.wong@pconline.com.cn
Christensen Investor Relations
Tip Fleming
Tel: +852-9212-0684
Email: tfleming@christensenir.com
For the full financial statements, please visit the Group's website at corp.pconline.com.cn
SOURCE Pacific Online Ltd.
160 SOEs disclose executive pay
March 26th, 2013More than 160 State-run companies in Jing'an district have started to disclose the salaries of high-level executives to their employees, the Laodong Daily reported.
The government-sponsored disclosure is part of an effort to narrow the salary gap between executives and rank-and-file employees, and increase transparency at State-run enterprises.
The measure applies to anyone at the companies who receives an annual salary, including board members and top-level managers, said Lu Yanghong, a senior director from the Jing'an District Labor Union. The companies will tell employees about the salaries through their employee congresses.
Several government agencies, including the discipline inspection and State-run assets authorities ordered the companies to make the disclosure, Lu said.
Lu called Jing'an district a pioneer in executive pay disclosure. "No other district in Shanghai has made such a large step," he told the Global Times.
Asking the State-run enterprises to expose executive pay could push them to increase the salaries of ordinary employees in an effort to head off complaints about a salary gap, Lu said. "There will be complaints if a senior manager is making 500,000 yuan ($80,492) while an ordinary employee is getting 20,000 yuan a year," Lu said.
When asked whether companies will disclose other executive benefits, such as payment cards, Lu said that few companies provide executives with payment cards these days. He did not address any of the other perks executives have received in the past.
About 99 percent of the State-run companies in Jing'an district have already started to make the disclosures, Lu said.
China's Alibaba Names Jonathan Lu as Next CEO
March 25th, 2013HONG KONG—Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. named Jonathan Lu to succeed founder Jack Ma as chief executive amid growing expectations that the Chinese e-commerce company is gearing up for a potential multibillion-dollar initial public offering.
The company portrayed Mr. Lu as a Mr. Fix It—an experienced manager put in place to run Alibaba's growing operations. Alibaba on its website emphasized Mr. Lu's operational abilities and said he "shuns the spotlight," putting him in contrast with Mr. Ma, who long has been an outsize figure on China's Internet scene. Though Mr. Ma has been stepping back from the day-to-day operations of Alibaba over the past year, many analysts expect him to maintain a strong influence over the company's strategic direction.
Mr. Lu's background as an executive vice president running important Alibaba units will be put to the test in his new role. The company faces increasing challenges from logistical complexities and competition from companies such as Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co., which runs the 360buy.com site. Bankers say Alibaba is likely contemplating an IPO as early as this year, although the company hasn't specified a time.
One of the tasks for Mr. Lu will be to make use of the massive amounts of data Alibaba collects on transactions and users. He also will need to expand beyond Alibaba's command of e-commerce via personal computers to attract China's growing number of smartphone users to the company's mobile services.
"Serving as Alibaba Group CEO is an extremely challenging and difficult job, especially succeeding a founder CEO like me," Mr. Ma said in an email to employees Monday. "Jonathan has impressed with his curiosity and ability to grasp new ideas, his judgment and decisiveness, and his strong execution capabilities."
Alibaba said Mr. Lu, who takes his new position May 10, wasn't available for comment.
Alibaba said in January that Mr. Ma, 48 years old, would step down as day-to-day chief of the company he founded but would remain chairman. With no background in business or technology, the former English teacher founded from his apartment in 1999 what is now China's largest e-commerce company by sales. The Hangzhou-based company has more than 23,000 employees.
Last year the company took private Alibaba.com, which had been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in a move that many analysts saw as a way to consolidate control ahead of a group IPO. Alibaba Group in May struck a roughly $7 billion deal to buy back around half of Yahoo Inc.'s YHOO +1.75% 40% stake in the group. The agreement created an incentive for Alibaba to list its shares before December 2015.
Mr. Lu, 43, has been the group's chief data officer since last year, overseeing the company's Aliyun smartphone operating software, a source of conflict with U.S.-based Google Inc. GOOG -0.12% When Taiwanese PC maker Acer Inc. 2353.TW 0.00% tried to introduce a smartphone using Aliyun last year, the U.S. company objected, saying that Alibaba created its system by making changes to Google's Android operating system. Alibaba disputed Google's allegation, though the phone wasn't released.
Mr. Lu's appointment comes as Alibaba has taken steps in the past year to streamline management of the company. Alibaba in January unveiled a reorganization that aimed to boost efficiency and give more independence to business units.
"With this appointment, Jack will be freed up to focus on maintaining the company's good relationship with the government," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, an investment advisory firm specializing in the Internet and e-commerce. He said Alibaba needs to ensure that the government won't raise issues with the dominant market share held by Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall shopping sites.
Taobao accounts for the vast majority of transactions among Chinese online shopping sites, similar to eBay Inc.'s EBAY +0.66% site, that cater largely to small merchants, mostly offering inexpensive, nonbranded goods and novelties. Tmall hosts online storefronts for branded products, including for U.S.-based Gap Inc. GPS +0.68% Taobao and Tmall last year surpassed one trillion yuan, or roughly $160 billion, in transactions, from which the sites generated revenue from advertising, services and commissions, the company said.
In the past decade, Alibaba took market share from eBay's Chinese unit, mainly by undercutting the U.S.-based company on commissions. Ebay largely withdrew from China in 2006.
Multinationals flock to Shanghai
March 21st, 2013Multinational companies continue to set up China and Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Shanghai, according to the city's Municipal Commission of Commerce.
The commission reported that by the end of 2012, 403 multinationals had established regional headquarters in Shanghai, 95 of which serve as both China and Asia-Pacific headquarters.
"We were aware of this trend as early as 2000, when we entered the China market, but it has clearly increased in the past two years," said Sergio Picarelli, chief sales officer and member of the Executive Committee of Adecco Group.
He added: "A lot of companies are moving from Singapore or Hong Kong or directly setting up their headquarters for Asia Pacific in Shanghai. It will probably further increase in the next five years."
In Picarelli's view, Shanghai is China's foremost commercial hub and a key center for logistics, making it an ideal city for a multinational firm to base its China operations.
A joint venture may give a multinational company an edge in the China market, such as in the case of the Adecco Group, Picarelli said.
"Globally Adecco works with over 100,000 clients every day. Many of them are very interested in the opportunities offered by the Chinese market and want to fully understand the HR situation on the ground here. We can support them with our local know-how and our full range of services," he said.
Adecco has created an expert team and offers a special platform that supports multinational companies exploring the Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets as well as assisting Chinese firms going overseas.
"Outbound Chinese companies will have the same difficulties that multinational companies have when they come to China. They have to discover a new world and a new way of doing business," Picarelli said.
"We support them in their efforts to recruit good people. Once you have good people, you have a good organization," he said.
Job forecast bright for retail sector: think tank
March 20th, 2013TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Roughly 41,000 job opportunities, including 31,000 full-time positions as well as 10,000 part-time jobs in the nation's retail enterprises, will open up this March, according to a survey conducted by 104 Job Bank.
The labor think tank released their March 2013 Recruitment in Local Enterprises survey yesterday, which showed the retail industry enjoying the most job growth compared to other sectors.
The retail industry has been quickly expanding over the past five years, according to the report, offering positions with monthly salaries ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$70,000.
Despite the abundance of jobs opening up in the sector, the report warns job seekers that positions in retail are known for tough requirements, and work-performance evaluations are often tied directly to sales goals.
Previously, the job bank said that local demand for new employees would increase after the Chinese New Year holidays. The statistics showed that demand for labor supplies was expected to increase in March, a month marked by the start of recruitment on college campuses.
According to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), the unemployment rate in January this year was 4.16 percent, the lowest in the last six months.
Overall, strong demand for labor has been increasing since February as the job market has seen an expansion since the New Year holidays, said the DGBAS said.
The job bank said 24.5 percent of local enterprises are optimistic about the economy for March, while 17.2 percent of the enterprises surveyed are pessimistic over a possible economic recovery.
According to the report, 32.9 percent of enterprises are planning to take on new employees in March, while 44.6 percent of local enterprises will freeze hiring, and 9.7 percent will decrease their recruitment. Nearly 13 percent remain uncertain.
Chinese IT execs detained over alleged bribes
March 18th, 2013Summary: Two senior executives from China's top futures exchanges have been detained after they allegedly received bribes from vendors supplying equipment for their companies' transaction systems.
Senior IT executives from two large futures exchanges in China have been detained for allegedly taking bribes from suppliers for their companies' transaction systems.
Yan Shaohui, who is in his 40s, and Zhang Guoyan, 38, were arrested and questioned by prosecutors, although it is not yet clear if they will be charged, Chinese financial news site Caixin Online reported Wednesday.
According to the report, Yan is the chief engineer of the electronic exchange system at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). Zhang, on the other hand, is the director of China Financial Futures Exchange's (CFFEX) technology center, which he joined in 2006. The amount of bribes the two are accused of taking was not stated.
The report cited several sources familiar with the matter as saying investigations into the two men were likely connected, as the two companies often shared technology and talent.
The sources added the bribes Yan and Zhang took were likely from suppliers for the exchanges' transaction systems. A large amount of capital is spent annually on updating the systems to meet demand of new products and trading techniques, so executives in charge of the systems' design and operations hold significant sway over suppliers, they said.
Last year, an anonymous online message accused a former SHFE executive of illegally making billions of yuan by taking advantage of the loopholes he created in the exchange's transaction system. But when SHFE examined the system, it found no such loopholes, the Caixin Online report noted.
Prosecutors said the investigations into Yan and Zhang are not related to the design of the transactions.
CFFEX and SFHE are the two largest futures exchanges in China in terms of transaction value. According to data from China Futures Association, CFFEX was placed first in 2012 with a turnover of 75.8 trillion yuan (US$12.1 trillion), followed by SHFE with 44.6 trillion yuan (US$7.1 trillion).
Inside China's Economy: Shanghai Leads Office Worker Salary Rankings; Power Usage Up 5.5% January-February
March 15th, 2013Shanghai Leads Office Worker Salary Rankings
Shanghai has topped a white-collar worker salary list of China's 24 largest cities, according to a report released by Zhaopin.com, a leading Chinese online job advertising site. The city's ¥7,112 monthly salary for white-collar workers is followed by Shenzhen's ¥6,787/month and Beijing's ¥5,453/month. The three highest paid industries in Shanghai are energy/mining (¥9,711), automobile (¥9,644) and petrochemicals (¥9,218). The three highest paid industries in Shenzhen are telecom (¥8,488), finance (¥8,240) and energy/mining (¥8,220). The three highest paid industries in Beijing are telecom (¥7,633), real estate (¥7,095) and finance (¥6,950).
PBOC's Zhou Says 20% of Local Govt Debts Are Risky
About 20% of China's local government financing vehicles are not profitable and are vulnerable to risks, Xinhua reported, citing central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan. Different from those funding major infrastructure and mortgages, 20% of local government financing vehicles are funding projects which are largely not profitable and the debts have to be paid with other incomes of local governments, according to Zhou. He called for further reforms to introduce new financing tools to ensure financial support for the country's urbanization.
Money Rate Rises Amid Inflation Concern
China's money-market rate rose to a one-week high after central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said the nation should be on high alert over inflation, Bloomberg reported. The CPI climbed to a 10-month high of 3.2% in February. The People's Bank of China will sell ¥18 billion of 28-day repurchase contracts Thursday, which will reduce the amount of cash in the system and stem the rapid monetary growth. The seven-day repurchase rate, which measures interbank funding availability, rose 0.06 percentage points to 3.08% as of 10:45am in Shanghai Thursday.
Power Usage Up 5.5% January-February
China's electricity consumption fell 12.5% year on year to 337.4 billion kW hours in February 2013 due to the Chinese New Year holiday, the National Energy Administration said. Between January and February, electricity consumption was up 5.5% to 789.2 billion kW hours, including 12.8 billion kW hours by the primary sector (up 4.3%), 552.8 billion kW hours by the secondary sector (up 4.2%), 106.8 billion kW hours by the tertiary sector (up 13.8%) and 116.9 billion kW hours by civilians (up 4.7%). A total of 6.48 million kW of new power generation capacity were installed during the two months, including 3.4 million kW of coal-fired capacity and 1.56 million kW of hydropower capacity.
Railroad Investment Jumps 26% January-February
Fixed-asset investment in China's railways totaled ¥37.63 billion in the first two months of 2013, including ¥25.14 billion in rail infrastructure, up 25.7% and 20.9% respectively from the same period of last year, said the Ministry of Railways, which is soon to break up and merge with the Ministry of Transport. The strong growth came after the investment in the sector remained sluggish throughout 2012 following a deadly high speed train crash in 2011. Chinese railways are expected to receive ¥650 billion in total fixed-asset investment this year, including ¥520 billion in rail infrastructure.
Deal-of-the-Day Turnover Exceeds ¥2.3b in January
Turnover at Chinese deal-of-the-day websites added up to ¥2.32 billion in January 2013, up 7.5% from a month earlier and up 72% from a year earlier, according to Tuan800.com, a site that collects information about such deals. 46.6 million people purchased deal-of-the-day coupons in January, up 4.4% from a month earlier and up 33.9% from a year earlier.
Hong Kong losing its lustre as mainland Chinese firms raise pay
March 15th, 2013Big mainland cities like Shanghai are ratcheting up the pressure on Hong Kong on a new front - enticing professionals and specialists with higher pay and perks as the salary gap between the two narrows.
According to British recruitment agency Hays, 47 per cent of mainland-based businesses increased salaries by more than 10 per cent last year, compared with only 4 per cent in Hong Kong.
A Hays survey of 1,200 employers in Asia, including those in Hong Kong, the mainland, Japan and Singapore, showed that a chief financial officer on the mainland could earn up to 2.5 million yuan (HK$3.1 million) a year, beating a Hong Kong counterpart whose annual income tops out at HK$3 million.
"China led Asian countries in terms of salary growth despite uncertain economic conditions in other parts of the world," said Simon Lance, regional director for Hays in China. "Competition in the job market is fierce and it is a salary-driven market."
The British company said talented executives worldwide, including expats and overseas Chinese, were increasingly looking to relocate to the mainland.
Skill shortages remain a stumbling block to foreign companies' aggressive expansions in the mammoth market, with 30 per cent of employers saying they planned to further raise salaries by more than 10 per cent this year.
The Hays survey showed that 93 per cent of employers were worried about a shortage of skilled workers, which would hamper their business growth.
But Lance said the trend of more professionals being drawn to China by increasing pay packages could be reversed. China's higher personal income tax, difficult business environment and poor food-safety record could emerge as primary concerns, he said.
The performance of foreign businesses in China has declined as they fall victim to rising labour costs. A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai revealed recently that US companies reported profit drops for a second consecutive year last year due to rising costs, tougher competition and a slowing economy.
ZTE cuts senior, middle management roles in restructure
March 14th, 2013ZTE has reduced some middle and senior management positions amid an ongoing organizational review which begun last year to streamline the organization.
A spokesperson told ZDNet there will also be changes in underperforming parts of the company. "ZTE's aim is to make our organization more streamlined and deliver improved business performance," the spokesperson said, adding the company has a "natural" employee attrition rate of between 5 percent to 10 percent annually.
The company was responding to queries about reports about massive job cuts to its workforce in the first quarter of 2013.
The Investment Bulletin reported on Monday it learned the Chinese telecoms equipment manufacturer will be laying off 20 percent of its workforce in the first quarter of the year. The layoffs will also be staggered, with a certain percentage of contracts not being extended as they come up for renewal each month, the article said.
Streamlining underway
In January, ZTE announced plans to streamline itself to form a simplified, three layer structure comprising of headquarters, operational division and representative office, and some regional and structural grouping will be eliminated.
"The reorganization will strengthen competitiveness and risk-management, ensuring all departments have access to key operational resources," ZTE said in the statement.
Rumors of large layoffs at ZTE have been circulating since ZTE's vice president Shen Li announced his resignation on February 17, 2013. However, the company's management has denied such claims that it laid off 10 percent of its workforce, explaining 5 percent left of their own will while 5 percent were those with the lowest performance and part of routine elimination, a separate report by Want China Times, noted.
In January, ZTE said it expected to book losses of up to US$439 million in its preliminary report for the year ending December 31, 2012, due to postponed contracts and decreases in revenue from terminals in the domestic market.
Tudou Founder to Poach U.S. Talent for New Chinese Animated-Film Studio
March 13th, 2013Gary Wang, who left his online video platform after its merger with rivals Youku in August, said he hopes to import foreign technical experts to staff his new enterprise, to be launched April 1.
HONG KONG – Having left the limelight more than six months ago when he sold his online-video brainchild, Tudou, to his erstwhile rivals Youku, Gary Wang is now gearing for a return with a bang – by unveiling a Beijing-based animated-film studio producing movies for domestic consumption.
But the enterprise may have an international twist on it: Wang is aiming to recruit animation-film experts from Hollywood so as to compete with imported U.S. blockbusters.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Wang said he would build a team that includes U.S. members. He said he had met directors, storyboard artists and senior animators while on a two-week scouting trip in Los Angeles and San Francisco in January.
“I get the impression that everyone there is excited about the Chinese market,” said Wang, who was born in China but moved to New York in 1993 to study high school before graduating with a computer science degree at Baltimore’s John Hopkins University.
Wang said he has already secured hundreds of thousands of dollars from international investors for his latest project and that the output will be mainly aimed at domestic audiences.
Citing an improvement in his home country’s distribution, exhibition and copyright protection issues, and also the surge in opportunities and profit in what now stands as the second-biggest film market in the world, Wang said “the time is right” to launch an animation-film studio that could tap into this pool.
Wang’s studio will add a domestic competitor in a scene that has long been dominated by Hollywood blockbusters. While films like DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda franchise have proved to be massive hits in China, the local industry has failed to offer reputable alternatives beyond straightforward copies like Legend of a Rabbit, which flopped badly at home.
In fact, DreamWorks will be one of Wang’s major competitors on home turf as well, as the U.S. studio is now already proceeding with building a studio near Shanghai under the name Oriental DreamWorks, a joint venture owned alongside China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment. Upon the launch of the company last year, the company announced the making of Kung Fu Panda 3 as a co-production, with a release date in 2016.
Wang founded Tudou in 2005 and sold his company to Youku, his long-running rivals in the business of hosting online videos for Chinese audiences, in August in a stock deal worth about $1 billion. He said his investors, which he did not name, are with him in terms of looking at the new business from a “very long-term view."
Outlook bright for services job seekers
March 13th, 2013Survey reports big rise in number of companies planning to take on staff
Service sector employers have reported one of their most optimistic hiring periods in years, with nearly 25 percent planning to hire more staff over the next quarter, according to a survey from global recruitment company, the ManpowerGroup.
Its Employment Outlook Survey, covering the second quarter of the year, said its net employment outlook - which compared hiring and layoff figures - for the Chinese sector was +22 percent, meaning more employers planned to increase than cut staff, a quarterly increase of 4 percent compared to the first quarter.
The company produces localized surveys for many countries, and the exercise is considered one of the widest-recognized of its type.
Zhang Jinrong, managing director of ManpowerGroup China, said: "Vacancies are increasing in the nation's service sector as the central government aims to further boost its development in a bid to make its economy driven more by domestic consumption than by industrial investment and exports."
Within China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), the central government has prioritized improving the service sector to raise service levels and attract more talented staff to work in the sector.
The plan is to increase the added value of the sector by 4 percent, and add 4 percent more job opportunities by 2015.
In 2012, the added value of the service sector increased by 1.2 percent, 0.2 percent higher than expected.
"It is essential to boost the service industries and offer essential services for consumers to support the economic development of China gradually," Shi Zihai, head of the policy research office under the National Development and Reform Commission, said in an online interview on gov.cn and xinhuanet.com on Friday.
Service sector companies said government policies have started to have a positive effect on business.
Zhuang Qingman, general manager of Happy Lemon Shanghai Ltd, a teahouse chain with 300 outlets in China, said: "The recovering global economy and the enhanced daily living standards of consumers in China are boosting the demands of the service sector, and helping offer more opportunities for job seekers."
Happy Lemon is hoping to double its outlets across the country and recruit 80 percent more employees by the end of 2013.
Zhuang added that further development of the sector is essential, as Chinese residents spend more and their incomes rise.
The Manpower survey said Chinese employers expect to grow staffing levels in all the six main service industry sectors.
Opportunities for job seekers are expected to improve marginally for the second consecutive quarter.
China's net employment outlook of +18 percent (seasonally adjusted) is 3 percent stronger quarter-to-quarter and remains relatively stable year-on-year.
During the second quarter, 21 percent of Chinese employers said they expected to increase staffing levels, while only 3 percent planned to cut staff.
Some 41 percent of employers reported that they have no plans to grow or cut staff levels in the quarter ahead.
Manpower's Zhang added: "We are seeing sustainable growth being aggressively pursued.
"For instance, many enterprises in the coastal regions continue to search for the skills they need, and many are moving their search inland for management-level talent and technicians."
He said that the moderate economic recovery had provided solid opportunities for many companies to develop new business, meaning a renewed search for talent.
During this time, companies should consider implementing improved training systems, and explore ways to increase productivity to prolong the recovery effects and drive long-term, stable development, Zhang said.
The survey showed that positive hiring activity is anticipated in the wholesale and retail sectors, with an outlook of +20 percent, and the finance, insurance and real estate sector, with a +19 percent outlook.
Strong levels of hiring are also expected by employers in both the manufacturing and the transportation and utilities sectors, where outlooks stand at +17 percent, and in the mining and construction sector, with an outlook of +15 percent.
"Chengdu in Sichuan province has seized development opportunities in recent years and benefited from industrial transfers from the eastern coastal provinces to the west," said Zhang.
He added that to reinforce its position as the economic driver and largest market in western China, Chengdu is establishing a modern manufacturing base and creating conditions for its high-end service industry to flourish.
A total of 4,203 employers in the Chinese mainland were interviewed by Manpower to measure their staffing intentions between April and June 2013.
Globally, the survey said that employers in 32 of the 42 countries and regions surveyed expect to add to their workforces in varying degrees during the second quarter of 2013, compared to employers in 29 of 42 countries and regions in the first quarter of 2013.
Hiring optimism strengthened quarter-on-quarter in 21 countries and regions and softened in 15.
Saon joins the ‘big three’ with ChinaHR deal
March 12th, 2013Global recruitment company Saongroup is taking aim at the number one slot in the Chinese online recruitment market with the purchase last month of the market number three, China HR.com.
Ciaran Lally, chief executive of the Irish recruiter’s China business, said the company now has 3,100 employees in 179 cities in China, after buying ChinaHR from the US company Monster for an undisclosed sum. Some sites have reported this as about $30 million (¤22.86 million).
Lally says the purchase is timely given the Irish group’s expansion plans, and also a very good fit when the regional spread of myjob.com’s business is taken into account.
With the myjob.com brand, Saongroup had built up a strong position in the second-, third- and fourth-tier cities, he said, and was number four in the market.
The tier one cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, were dominated by the “Big Three” – 5onejob, which is US-listed, Zhaopin, which is Australian-listed, and ChinaHR.
“Our most profitable businesses, with scale, are tier two or three. A city like Zhongshan has a population of two or three million people, which is small by Chinese standards but still a significant market, with strong GDP growth,” says Lally in an interview in the group’s headquarters in Beijing, in the old ChinaHR building.
“If you take a snapshot at the end of last year we had 2,500 people, avoiding the tier ones. That project had ran its course. We pumped up the country ; we were very strong in telesales and job fairs,” says Lally.
Denis O’Brien holds a 75 per cent shareholding in Saongroup, while its chairman, Leslie Buckley, holds the remaining 25 per cent. Both O’Brien and Buckley insisted that the company expand its presence across the country, including breaking into the tier one cities.
This was easier said than done. The first-tier cities are seen as too expensive and difficult to break into, as the big three firms already had such a strong presence there.
Then, fortuitously, Monster took a strategic decision to sell ChinaHR. In contrast to myjob.com, ChinaHR did not have a presence in the second-, third- and fourth-tier cities. It seemed a good fit.
The two firms entered discussions and the deal closed on February 6th. If you add the two pieces together, you ha ve
myjob.com in the tiers four, three and two, and then you’ve ChinaHR with its great brand and presence in tier one. Aggregating the two makes perfect sense, says Lally.
“It’s really positioned us in terms of the company . The old staff at myjob.com have gone from telesales operation to SMEs and now, all of a sudden, we can use this network we’ve built over the last years to talk to Fortune 500 companies.
“And ChinaHR’s clients really are a ‘who’s who’ of China – VW, China Mobile, Baidu and others,” says Lally.
“I’ve no excuse if we don’t achieve number one at this stage. We have the products that the number one and number two have, we have the footprint across the country in 179 cities and we have the depth within the team,” he says.
“We have funding available to market and rebuild the brand so we are positioned to keep taking market share.”
“We now have 3,100 people. We were well-placed and the timing was quite fortunate for us. The deal makes sense. All of the changes will happen in Q2 [the second quarter ]. We hope to have a very significant relaunch of the brand,” says Lally.
The group is on track to achieve 41 per cent growth in the first quarter, while the overall market is seeing low, single-digit growth.
“China must succeed for Saongroup. There is a good 10 -15 years of solid growth here.”
Saongroup.com has operations across four continents – Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas – and websites in 30 countries.
Taiwan's Foxconn to recruit 5,000 technicians at home
March 12th, 2013TAIPEI -- Taiwan's tech giant Foxconn will hire 5,000 technicians locally this year, many of them to work on factory robots to build its gadgets, officials said Monday, in a sign the firm is refocusing operations to its home island.
The announcement — one of the group's largest talent recruitment drives in Taiwan in recent years — comes as the conglomerate is slowing new hiring at its sprawling factories in China.
Foxconn said the move was due to increasing automation of manufacturing and assembly lines in China, where rising labour costs have squeezed profit margins.
Some of the new employees are to work at a software complex in Kaohsiung, in Southern Taiwan, spokeswoman Laura Liu said, while others will staff a robot research unit in the centre of the island, and a development unit at the company's headquarters outside Taipei.
Chairman Terry Gou told media that Foxconn — the world's largest maker of computer components, which assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia — plans to use one million robots to do “simple” manufacturing work by 2014.
Foxconn already has 10,000 robots for painting, welding and other assembly tasks.
The company employs the vast majority of its workers in China, where it employs more than one million people, roughly half of them based in its main facility in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.
Foxconn has come under the spotlight in recent years over worker suicides, labour unrest and the use of underage interns at its Chinese plants.
It has taken steps such as raising salaries, improving working conditions and enforcing age restrictions to address concerns raised by an independent audit of conditions mandated by Apple.
50% of Women Job-hop for Staff Benefits
March 11th, 2013According to the results of a recent survey on Chinese working women, about 40 percent of interviewed women were unsatisfied with their latest salary adjustment and 50.7 percent said that they usually switch jobs because of job benefits.
The survey interviewed more than 1,700 employed people nationwide in February 2013, including more than 770 working women. Statistics show that 44 percent of the women interviewed had hoped for a salary increase of more than 20 percent, but only 7.1 percent achieved that goal.
In the wake of salary adjustment disappointments, 44.9 percent of women said they would look for new job opportunities, 22.8 percent would work harder and 18.9 percent would have a discussion with their bosses.
In addition, 7.1 percent would choose to keep silent about it, a higher percentage than men. This may be because women tend to be more careful about interpersonal workplace relationships than men.
Women of different ages also differed in their attitudes towards the salary adjustment gap, with more women born in the 1970s saying they would keep silent about it. Women born in the 1980s were more likely to work harder, but those born after 1985 were also more likely to change jobs immediately.
When it came to job-hopping, 59.9 percent of interviewed women said they planned to change jobs in the next three months, six months or one year.
For many women, having to balance work and family means that job benefits become increasingly important as they get older. For example, they are more likely to accept a lower salary in exchange for more vacation days.
Statistics also show that 69.6 percent of interviewed women would look at foreign companies first for job opportunities, 20.9 percent would prefer state-owned enterprises and less than 10 percent would choose private enterprises. In general, people believe that foreign companies offer better job benefits.
Experts have suggested that women also pay attention to industry prospects, developmental trends, company management and other factors that may affect their career development within a company.
China to recruit women for deep-sea research
March 8th, 2013The Chinese National Center for deep-sea research decided to recruit female divers to explore the ocean depths. According to the director of the center, Liu Feng, women are more accurate may contribute a lot into the field of deep-sea research.
According to media reports, in 2013, China plans to increase the number of deep-diving manned submersibles. Therefore, the center has decided to train new marine researchers. To date, the study involves only two deep-sea scientists from China. Last year, they tested a deep-sea vehicle in the area of the Mariana Trench. The vehicle reached the depth of 7,015 meters.
Currently, the deep-sea research center of China develops the program and standards to select would-be researchers. For women, requirements will be softer than for men, who, among other things, will have to make light repairs aboard the submersibles.
According to previous standards, deep-sea research was available only for men over 35 years old, with higher technical education.
Sands China announces pay rise
March 6th, 2013Sands China Ltd yesterday announced it would increase the salaries of its employees by 5 percent starting next month.
Additionally, the company said it is paying a bonus on February 14 to its staff, as a result of the company’s strong financial performance in 2012.The gaming operator has over 25,000 employees.
Sands China is the second casino company in Macau to raise salaries this year, after SJM Holdings announced a salary increase of five to six percent for all of its employees last month.
China to reform income distribution mechanism
March 6th, 2013In a bid to address widening wealth gap, China has unveiled a major plan to reform its income distribution mechanism, proposing to tax the rich and state units more besides imposing caps on salaries of top managers while increasing lower staff pay.
The reform will focus on increasing residents' income, narrowing income distribution disparity and regulate distribution order, a statement issued by the China's Cabinet, which approved the 35-point blue print, said.
As per the reform plan, the government will work to double the average real income of urban and rural residents by 2020 from the 2010 level and facilitate the poor to enjoy faster income growth.
The reform also targets raising the proportion of residents' income in the overall national income and spending more government funds on social security and employment. However the statement said: “deepening the income distribution reform is a systematic project that is arduous and complicated and concerns the reallocation of various interests. There is no way to accomplish it overnight”.
The income reform plan was approved as China saw its income gap between new rich and poor was yawning, even with its economy emerging as second-largest in the world.
The Gini coefficient, a rich-poor index, reached 0.474 in China in 2012, higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations. The reform plan was announced as wealth gap was identified as major threat to the ruling Communist Party of China's hold on power.
It came a month ahead of the one-in-a-decade power transfer under which new administration headed by CPC new leader Xi Jinping would take over power from next month replacing Hu Jintao.
The new guidelines offer directions on an extensive range of policy areas such as taxation, subsidies, salary system, financial regulation, household registration and social security.
The guidelines set a target of reducing the number of people living below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan ($366) in per capita annual net income at constant 2010 prices by around 80 million as of 2015. That will be a drastic fall from about 128 million in rural areas who were defined as poor in 2011. According to official estimates China has 150 million people under the poverty line.
Under the plan farmers will be guaranteed proceeds from transferring their contracted land plots and collect higher revenues from gains in the land value.
The plans aims at officials, state-owned enterprises (SOE) and wealthy individuals in its bid to strengthen regulation of the high-income group, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Rules that demand government officials report their income, real estate assets, investment and family members' jobs will be implemented more strictly, the guidelines said.
SOEs must impose ceilings on payments to their senior management who are appointed by the state and make sure senior staff's salary growth is slower than the average level for general employees, they said.
The percentage of profits that central SOEs have to hand in to the government will be increased by around 5 percentage points by 2015 from the current level and the added income will go to social security.
The guidelines also proposed keeping the staff scale of central and local governments from growing in the 2011-2015 period and rigorously controlling government spending on receptions, car purchases and driving as well as overseas tours.
To tax the rich more, the government will expand experimental property taxes gradually, collect consumption taxes on more high-end entertainment activities and luxury products, and study imposing inheritance taxes “at an appropriate time”.
In the meantime, foreign individuals will no longer be exempt from personal income taxes on stock dividends and bonuses they obtain from foreign-funded enterprises in China, according to the guidelines.
China Moves to Temper Growth
March 5th, 2013BEIJING—China set a growth target of around 7.5% for this year as it kicked off a meeting to finalize its leadership transition, reflecting how Beijing is turning away from breakneck growth based on exports in favor of a broader economy driven by spending at home.
China's ambitions for more moderate growth come after decades of double-digit increases and are a centerpiece of new leaders' plans to be detailed during the annual National People's Congress, which began Tuesday.
"We should unswervingly take expanding domestic demand as our long-term strategy for domestic development," said Premier Wen Jiabao, delivering his final report to the congress after 10 years at the helm. The key to that change, he said, is to "enhance people's ability to consume."
Beijing's broader goal is to shift the economy away from reliance on investment and exports, with a stronger role for domestic consumption, as it kick starts painful reforms to rebalance the country's economic model.
Underpinning that is an ambitious plan to raise household income and ensure more equal distribution of national wealth.
A stronger social safety net, which frees up money for households to spend, is an important part of the plan. The central government promised a substantial 27% increase in its health-care spending to $41.8 billion, and spending on employment and social welfare is also rising fast.
Mr. Wen also reiterated commitments to bring China's 200 million-plus migrant workers into the urban social welfare system and provide stronger protections for farmers' land rights, both seen as crucial to support higher household income and greater social equity.
On other economic matters, leaders reduced the inflation target to 3.5% from 4% in 2012, reflecting a goal of keeping expected price rises from accelerating too much. The fiscal deficit target was set at around 2% of GDP, up from 1.5% in 2012, as Beijing puts its relatively healthy balance sheet to work in support of growth.
In the days leading up to the legislative meeting, China's government aggressively struck at once-again-surging housing prices, showing leaders' determination not to let a property bubble push the economy off track or breed dissatisfaction with the government just as a new guard is taking over.
The growth target maintains the goal for stable growth set out last year and isn't a forecast—China routinely exceeds its targets. Last year's growth was 7.8%.
During the National People's Congress, eyes are on the new leadership under Xi Jinping, the Communist Party chief to be named president during the meeting, to see whether it will go beyond rhetoric to make the difficult changes required to raise household income and boost consumption spending.
Details on the timeline and implementation of reforms remain vague. And crucial questions remain unanswered on how cash-strapped local governments will pay for changes. Some analysts expect a major Communist Party meeting in October to fill in the blanks.
A bubbly property sector has been a key feature of China's unbalanced growth. Rising house prices drove overinvestment in real estate, and also crimped consumption by forcing households to scrimp and save to get their foot on the housing ladder. Leaders have worried about social frictions caused by housing that is out of reach for average earners.
The renewed controls to tame the property sector, a major contributor to growth, suggest the government is prepared to safeguard the gains from three years of attempts to make buying a home more affordable for the middle class—even if it dents the growth outlook.
The realization that leaders are retightening screws surprised markets, which like many property buyers had concluded that leaders were satisfied with the results of repeated tightening and willing to tolerate a gradual return to rising prices and sales.
Shares of Chinese developers plummeted on Monday, the first day of trading after policy makers said on Friday that they would strictly enforce a capital-gains tax of 20% on profits from home sales. China's State Council, or cabinet, also said it would reinforce controls on who is allowed to buy a home and push banks to raise down-payment and mortgage rates for second-home buyers in some cities.
The repeated tightening had resulted in prices leveling out. But in the past few months, house prices in China's top-tier cities have again started to rise at alarming rates. Average prices for property in Shanghai were up 41% from a year earlier in the first two months of the year, and Beijing prices are also rising fast, according to data from real-estate agency Soufun.
"The government has not been able to break the cycle of expectations pushing prices higher and driving higher expectations. Someone has to get hurt, to convince people China's property is not a surefire bet," said Mark Williams, China economist at Capital Economics.
Shenzhen-listed China Vanke Co., 000002.SZ +0.46% China's largest developer by volume was one of several property stocks to plunge the daily 10% trading limit Monday. The property hit helped drag China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 3.7% for the day. Mainland developers in Hong Kong also fell sharply.
The market appeared to regain its footing in early trading Tuesday, with the Shanghai and Hong Kong markets opening fractionally up.
The recent uptick in property prices had raised questions about whether policy makers can deliver a more permanent solution to the problems of the housing market. Reaction to the latest moves in Shanghai was that they were likely to have a strong effect.
"Home prices will definitely take a hit once the new regulations are in place," said Chen Jun, a real-estate agent at Haiyu Dichan, a property agency in Shanghai.
Developers also took the move as a sign of the central government's determination to tighten the market. It "strengthens our view on the long-term nature of the property curbs," said a spokesman for China Vanke.
The measures to quell housing costs since April 2010 have left China's central government in a game of whack-a-mole with real-estate developers, local governments and speculators—all of whom have an interest in continued rapid increases in prices.
Leaders' efforts started to bring house prices back into line with income but did little to address the fundamental causes of China's property bubble, analysts say. Limited alternative investment options for households, local government reliance on land sales as a source of finance and the persistent belief that China's house prices can only go up meant the pressure for unsustainable rises in prices remains.
The latest moves appear aimed at preventing sharp increases in home prices spreading from China's first-tier cities to provincial capitals and smaller cities, where prices remain subdued. "The evidence is that prices in second-tier cities follow the top tier with a lag of a few months," said Jinsong Du, China real estate analyst at Credit Suisse. "The government wants to get ahead of that."
Property developers face the prospect of slower sales. Yuzhou Properties Co., 1628.HK -1.01% a developer in the southeastern city of Xiamen, said the new rules would delay the launch of their high-end homes. "We have to wait for an opportune time to launch the villas," said Leo Yang, investor-relations manager. "You can't possibly launch it when the country is going through a tightening phase."
The State Council has promised to expand China's nascent property tax, currently being tried in Shanghai and Chongqing. A nationwide tax would dent the enthusiasm of speculators by increasing the cost of holding property. But finding adequate new sources of revenue for local governments, and alternative investment options for households, remain intractable problems.
Many analysts expected rising property sales and investment—the biggest single source of China's domestic demand—to provide a tailwind to growth into 2013. But a weaker property market will hit demand for everything from steel to furniture to a car to park in the garage. Commodity exporters like Australia and Brazil, which feed China's steel mills, could also suffer.
Real-estate developers come into the downturn with their balance sheets relatively robust. "The listed developers had strong sales in 2012 and also raised debt in the bond market," said Mr. Du, the Credit Suisse analyst. "They are saying that local governments will go bankrupt before they do."
Salary gaps between top cities narrowing
March 1st, 2013The salary gap between China's first- and second-tier cities will narrow this year as the nation speeds its urbanization process, human resource experts said on Thursday.
China's single-digit economic growth is unlikely to impact recruitment in 2013, and job applicants with better knowledge of local markets will find it easier to get employment, said a survey released by Robert Walters Plc, a United Kingdom-based recruitment consultancy.
Overall salary levels in China will be "slightly higher" than in 2012, with candidates moving jobs usually able to get a 15 to 25 percent pay increase, according to the survey. Those who stay put will get rises of around 8 percent, which corresponds with the World Bank's estimate in January that China's 2013 GDP growth could reach 8.4 percent.
"As more international players enter lower-tier cities, talent was also lured away from metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai. The trend will help narrow salary differences among Chinese cities," said Arthur Wang, managing director of Robert Walters China.
He added that while there was a salary gap of 40 percent between people doing the same jobs in Shanghai and Suzhou two years ago, the current pay differential is between 15 and 20 percent.
However, there was a drop in demand for candidates with Western backgrounds, despite the nation's increased globalization.
People from other Asian economies, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia were preferred in the Chinese mainland due to their ability to communicate in Mandarin and adapt to Chinese culture, said the survey.
"Global conglomerates are desperate to turn China into a solid profit generator, but, in order to achieve this, they need employees who are familiar with the mainland market," explained Wang.
Although many international brands have scaled back their expansion plans in China, a number of players still intend to enter smaller cities in the country, boosting recruitment in their sales, human resource, training and business development departments, said Robert Walters.
Demand for new employees in the retail and luxury sectors may grow by up to 20 percent year-on-year until 2015, and salaries in these sectors may rise annually by 15 to 25 percent, said Wang.
In addition, the banking and financial service sectors will also see strong demand for new employees this year, said Wang.
Although the sectors were the hardest hit during the global economic crisis, a number of companies have already started to announce expansion plans in the first two months of this year.
"Many overseas financial firms delayed their expansion plans last year, which is set to trigger bigger recruitment initiative as the economy stabilizes," said Wang, adding wage increases could hit more than 20 percent for high quality employees.
Job seekers to increase in first quarter
February 28th, 2013With an improving economy in China, there will be more active job seekers in the first quarter of this year, the recent Hays Quarterly Report found.
Some sectors have ambitious hiring plans, such as life sciences. New companies aiming to gain a strong foothold in China are also recruiting actively.
In the property market, employers are looking for the next generation of leaders capable of critical decision making. They are also ramping up hiring in second and third-tier cities where the real-estate market still has room to grow.
With a talent shortage in some industries, such as IT, employers are looking at overseas candidates.
However, salaries do not always match the expectations of overseas candidates, hence the perennial talent shortage.
In some cases, employers are willing to offer higher salaries, such as to senior candidates with advanced skills or specialized expertise. At the same time, some employers are implementing training programs and retention plans to help grow talent internally.
Additionally, on the whole, the number of overseas candidates interested in working in China is on the rise, particularly in the construction industry. Foreign architects and designers continue to arrive in China looking for opportunities. The majority of candidates are from Europe.
As the Chinese market is faring better than others, overseas returnees also continue to seek opportunities in the world's second-largest economy.
Skilled and experienced professionals in areas of high demand have become far more selective about the companies and positions they will consider. They are taking longer to think about roles and will wait for the ideal position to become available, said Simon Lance, regional director of Hays in China.
"Candidates are also putting more emphasis on the brand and reputation of a company when considering their next career move. Entry and mid-level candidates tend to look at the scope of development in a new company and senior-level candidates assess the cultural fit and salary package on offer. In the sales industry, however, more candidates are looking for a bigger career platform and support from the company rather than salary increase," he said.
'Starting salary for love' in cities of China
February 27th, 2013Recently, a dating website released a report in which single women take the "starting salary for love" as a minimum requirement to accept their ideal boyfriend. In the report, most women from the 90's, 80's and 70's require a partner who is able to make more than 5000 yuan a month as "starting salary for love". There are differences in different cities. The most expensive are in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, where "the starting salary for love" is above 8000 yuan. This report made many people astonished and said it was too high.
The appearing "starting salary for love" represents a set of values but not the truth. Will you be happier if you are rich? It can't be answered with yes or no. Just like a pop song lyric said "love is not something you can buy". Similarly, happy marriage is also not something you can buy.
Chinese manufacturers scramble to find workers
February 27th, 2013Chinese low-cost manufacturers are trying various ways to retain workers and attract new ones after the Lunar New Year holiday, as the country's economic recovery brings in more orders.
Factory workers, mostly rural migrants, usually go home for family reunions during the traditional holiday. But many take advantage of the break to find better jobs and therefore do not return to their former employers.
Companies have raised salaries or offered financial incentives in an attempt to retain workers.
"Although the whole industry is still mired in gloom, we still plan to raise the workers' salary by 10 percent this year," said Tian Chengjie, vice president of Silverman Holdings Ltd., a textile company in Zibo of eastern Shandong Province.
In a bid to get workers back, many companies reportedly chose to pay year-end bonuses after the holiday. Some promised to offer a reward of 1,000 yuan for each year of their service.
Amid efforts to recruit enough workers, some companies promised to reward staff hundreds of yuan if they brought along new workers. Some even offered hundreds of yuan to workers' parents.
However, for many employees higher pay is not enough.
Increasingly, migrants, especially the younger generation, demand respect and good working conditions.
Executives at Orans Co. Ltd., in Taizhou in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, lined up at its factory gates and bowed when staff returned to work Monday, the first day after the Lantern Festival.
The respect the executives showed won praise from netizens.
"This should not be seen as a mere show. You can only make fortunes by showing respect to the labor force," wrote a netizen under the name of "Yunjianwei" on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging service.
Other netizens also called for better conditions rather than just higher pay or bonuses.
"A friend called me today saying only a low proportion of their workers had returned after the holiday and they also had difficulty in recruiting new ones," said a weibo user under the name of "Liang Yong."
"This does not come as a surprise if the employers do not show care towards the employees' life and psychological needs. Please do not see the workers as machines," "Liang Yong" added.
The labor shortage has attracted more media attention as the economic recovery looks like it will worsen the problem.
It comes as China's labor force between the age of 15 and 59 shrank by 3.5 million last year. It is the first time the country has recorded an absolute drop in the working-age population in "a considerable period of time," Ma Jiantang, National Bureau of Statistics director, said last month.
Hundreds of companies in Dongguan, dubbed "factory of the world" in the booming southern province of Guangdong, reportedly set up booths along a street to recruit workers Monday, but only a few migrants showed up and made inquires.
Many employees have chosen to work near their hometowns in the central and western regions as many companies have relocated there in response to the country's industrial restructuring in coastal areas.
Also many young migrants now do not wish to work for low-cost manufacturers where work conditions are not good even though they offer higher pay. For them, the routine work offers no excitement or career prospects.
Wan Zhong, president of Wanjia Shengshi Human Resources Co. Ltd., in Jinan, capital of Shandong said, "The labor shortage could prompt low-cost manufacturers to accelerate industrial restructuring and upgrading as well as offer workers better conditions."
Bosses try to woo workers as economy recovers
February 26th, 2013JINAN - Migrant workers who used to demand unpaid wages from their bosses before traveling home for a family reunion may find their positions reversed after the Spring Festival.
After the week-long national holiday, Wang Jiwan, board chairman of Qingdao Hengda Co., a shoe manufacturer based in eastern China's Shandong Province lined up with 50 senior executives at the factory gate, bowing to welcome returning workers.
It may seem odd, but he is not alone. Many companies are trying every trick in the book to attract workers and make them feel wanted. Some distributed cash ranging from 200 yuan (31.85 U.S. dollars) to 500 yuan to parents of employees who promised to come back after the holiday. Others offered a 15-percent pay rise in the new year.
Due to a lack of fixed employment contracts and rising living costs, each year after the Spring Festival, a traditional family holiday, it is common that migrant workers default on their jobs to settle back down again in their hometowns.
Labor shortage, a concern that has long plagued Chinese business owners, is an old problem and as the economy picks it will only get worse.
This year, manufacturers are suffering from shortages. However, it is not due to staff leaving but the warming economy, which has meant more orders on the books.
Labor shortages become particularly acute after the Spring Festival. However, this year is somewhat different, said Wan Zhong, manager of Wanjiashengshi, a human resource company based in Jinan, Shandong Province.
Enterprises have not lost a significant number of staff. Instead, they need more employees to fulfill rising orders, according to Wan.
"The 40 companies that had outsourced a recruitment process to us reported a lower staff turnover compared with previous years. They want more workers simply because the economy has survived the crisis and they would like to expand production," he said.
China's economic growth quickened to 7.9 percent in the final three months of 2012 after hitting a three-year low in the third quarter, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Official data also showed that the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector has been kept above 50 percent for four straight months since October. The January figure fell slightly by 0.2 percentage point from December to 50.4 percent.
A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction.
Manufacturing is regaining momentum, boosted by domestic and global recoveries, said Zhang Weiguo, an economic expert with the Shandong Academy of Social Sciences. He forecast that manufacturers will do much better than last year.
"This year the company has plenty of orders. Workers can soon start work once they are in place," Wang Jiwan said, adding that Hengda, which ships 40 percent of products overseas, will see sales up about 30 percent in 2013 as international demand rebounds.
Meanwhile, Shandong Haosheng Group, a home textile manufacturer, is short of about 500 workers due to increasing orders from the domestic market.
The company has seized orders from seven upstream firms in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces after the Spring Festival, according to the company's human resource manager, Sun Luguang.
Most employers will scale up hiring in the first quarter this year, especially the post-Spring Festival period, as the economy rebounded in last quarter, said Feng Lijuan, a human resource expert with 51job.com, China's leading online job-hunting service provider.
Labor-intensive industries including real estate, automobile parts manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies posted a high number of recruitment requests, according to a survey conducted by 51job.com.
Meanwhile, experts said China's economy will pick up steam this year. A report compiled by Xiamen University forecast that the country's economic growth will rise by 0.43 percentage points from last year to reach 8.23 percent in 2013.
Chinese businesses struggling to recruit skilled workers
February 25th, 2013More than one third of Chinese businesses are struggling to recruit skilled workers, posing a major challenge for their growth prospects, a report by international accounting firm Grant Thornton said on Wednesday.
Almost 50 per cent of enterprises from industries such as technology have reported difficulties in hiring skilled workers, the report said.
The survey suggests a lack of general work skills and specific technical skills is the key factor making recruitment difficult.
"In such circumstances, job seekers should improve their general workplace skills in areas such as teamwork and communication and their specific technical skills in order to stand out in the fierce competition for employment," said Xu Hua, CEO of Grant Thornton China.
The Grant Thornton International Business Report revealed that 61 per cent of businesses in China cite shortage of general work skills as the primary problem in recruitment and 55 per cent of them cite a shortage of technical skills as the major concern.
Over half of both traditional industries - construction, food and beverage and healthcare - and emerging industries such as technology and business services, said that both factors hinder recruitment.
"The dilemma and difficulties in both obtaining employment and recruiting workers are still prominent," said Xu. On one hand, the labour market is saturated and the employment situation is still severe for graduates, and on the other hand, businesses find it difficult to recruit qualified labour.
"In the long term, businesses need to improve their own training programs which will be able to help staff's growth and deliver talent in a sustainable manner, rather than pinning their hopes on recruiting skilled workers from the talent market," he added.
Businesses are also worried about the upcoming "job-hopping" season. According to research, besides increasing the workload for the remaining staff, 32 per cent of businesses said losing staff also results in loss of business orders and increases operating costs.
Hospitality enterprises are more worried than other businesses that a loss of staff may result in a fall in customer service standards, with 37 per cent citing this as a concern.
And 25 per cent of businesses in technology said staff losses will delay the development of new products or services, more than any other industry.
"A business is nothing without its people. A great team with an average plan will be far more successful than an average team with a great plan. With the upcoming job-hopping season, businesses need to do more communication work with its staff, and build up their talent pool at the same time," Xu added.
Contact the writer at huyuanyuan@chinadaily.com.cn
Chinese companies face skills shortage, report says
February 22nd, 2013More than one-third of Chinese companies are struggling to recruit skilled workers, posing a major challenge for their business-growth prospects, a report by international accounting firm Grant Thornton said on Wednesday.
Almost half of the companies from sectors such as technology and clean-tech reported difficulties in hiring skilled workers, the report said.
The Grant Thornton International Business Report revealed that 61 percent of companies in China cited a shortage of general employability skills as the main problem, while 55 percent said that a shortage of technical skills is the major concern.
Over half of both traditional industries — construction, food & beverage and healthcare — and emerging industries — technology, clean-tech and business services — believe that those two factors are hindering the recruitment process.
Xu Hua, CEO of Grant Thornton Jingdu Tianhua, said that job seekers have a hard time obtaining employment, while companies also have difficulties during the recruitment process.
On one hand, the labor market is saturated and the employment situation is difficult for graduates, but on the other, businesses find it difficult to recruit qualified employees, the report said.
"In the long term, businesses need to improve their training programs, which will be able to help with the development of their employees and deliver talent in a sustainable way, rather than pinning their hopes on recruiting skilled workers from the talent market," Xu added.
Businesses are also worried about the upcoming job-hopping season to a certain extent.
According to the research, besides increasing the workload for the remaining staff, 32 percent of businesses cite loss of orders as the main problem that staff retention issues have caused, while 32 percent think that increasing operating costs is the most important issue.
Compared with other industries, hospitality businesses are more concerned about the fall in customer service standards. And 25 percent of businesses in the technology sector consider that turnover will delay the development of new products and services, a higher percentage than any other industries.
Apple's producer in China halts hiring, sparks speculation
February 21st, 2013Foxconn says a recruitment freeze is not due to slowing production of the iPhone5.
Foxconn, the huge company that makes high-tech products including the iPhone, said Wednesday that a recruitment freeze at its vast facilities in China was not due to slowing production of the iPhone5.
"Due to an unprecedented rate of return of employees following the Chinese New Year holiday compared to years past, our company has decided to temporarily slow down our recruitment process," said a Foxconn statement Wednesday.
"This action is not related to any single customer and any speculation to the contrary is false and inaccurate," the firm said.
Some dispute that explanation. A story Wednesday by the Financial Times based in London said the hiring freeze comes amid poor iPhone5 sales.
The Chinese website yicai.com, a financial news site based in Shanghai, reported that Foxconn facilities in central China's Zhengzhou and southern China's Shenzhen have stopped recruiting new workers, but will employ more robots in the future.
Boosted by global demand for Apple's electronic, the Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn has grown into mainland China's largest private-sector employer, with 1.5 million workers. So news of hiccups in its operations can spark market concerns worldwide.
Apple shares were down slightly to $452.60 Wednesday morning.
Many employees are not at work this week due to Chinese Lunar New Year. The annual New Year festival, falling this year Feb. 9 to 24, is a time when almost all Chinese factory workers head back for once-a-year visits to often distant hometowns.
The Shenzhen Evening News said that Foxconn had decided to stop recruiting three months ago. The recruitment center website for Foxconn in central China's Henan province carries a banner headline advising that the firm will not hire for the next half year.
Migrant workers in shortage after Spring Festival holiday
February 20th, 2013With China's Spring Festival holiday winding to end, many migrant workers have already returned to their cities of work. But a large number of them are staying put at home for a while longer. It's posing a challenge for employers, who are acting fast to bring in more workers.
For many companies in China's east Zhejiang province, recruitment has to be done at train stations.
Here in Shaoxing city, migrant workers are stuffed with job ads the moment they step off the train.
Zhu Xiaofeng, recruitment staff of Jingdongfang Display Tech. Company, said, "Our production scale is expanding and we need an additional 50 workers urgently."
Wei Haifeng, recruitment staff of Zhende Medical Co, ltd., said, "We've been here twice and also the bus station. We hand out our advertisements and if they would like to work with us, we drive them to our company directly."
But many of these workers are coming back with a signed contract already waiting.
Employers have also been shouldering the rising cost of labour.
In southern city Shenzhen, the minimum wage for full time work has risen from 1500 yuan to 1600 yuan per month, a record high in the country. The new policy has drawn many workers to the city.
A browse through Shenzhen's recruitment sites shows employers often clearly lay out workers' welfares. And typical salaries vary from 2000 yuan to 4000 a month.
"There were fewer companies who recruited in the past years. But this year, there are more out there offering much better pay than before."
"We pay every worker 3 thousand to 4 thousand yuan a month. This is a huge burden for small companies."
But there are also optimistic voices from employers, saying the pressure of rising costs is driving industrial reform, which will benefit companies in their long run.
Returnees discover fulfillment
February 20th, 2013Governments in rural areas are harvesting the experience of overseas returnees to boost grassroots development.
Zhou Ti studied at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers in France for more than two years for a master's degree in management.
The 27-year-old returned to China in 2010 and found a job at an investment bank in Beijing paying almost 200,000 yuan ($32,000) a year.
After working for the bank for two years, he decided to go back to his hometown in Hunan province where a county was recruiting overseas returnees for town-level positions.
Zhou signed a three-year contract with Changsha county last year and now works with Kaihui town's environmental protection office, largely dealing with policymaking and trying to reduce its vehicle emissions.
"I need to visit villages every day, see how households are following the rules, such as the ban on livestock excreting into farmland or ponds," he said. "My workmates and I also keep records of each household's waste sorting and we financially reward families that do well."
Although the work pays only 3,000 yuan a month, Zhou said he believes the job offers a good platform through which he can put his own thoughts into practice.
"The job helps me improve my ability to communicate with people," he said. "I want to keep doing the job if I can make some achievements."
Leaders of town and county authorities are enthusiastic about recruiting and retaining overseas returnees like Zhou.
Changsha county hired 10 returnees for grassroots posts last year. The recruitment attracted 112 applicants, labor official Yang Xige said.
All 10 had master's degrees or above and now have different village positions according to their majors, he said.
"We assess their performance twice a year," Yang explained. "If they contribute to economic and social development, we will introduce more overseas returnees."
Deng Ruiqi, also 27, is another recruit of the county's program. He spent four years in France and works as secretary of the Communist Youth League of China for Fulin town.
Deng's main job is to explain government policies to villagers. "Once I visited 70 households in two days. The work has helped me accumulate grassroots work experience that I couldn't have acquired from books," he said.
Deng successfully organized a gala in September, raising about 400,000 yuan from businesses and individuals to address the schooling problems of children from poor families.
Deng hopes the experience can help him get a position in higher-level government bodies.
Other places are also looking at overseas returnees.
Beijing's labor authority started to hire overseas returnees to be village heads in 2011. More than 30 applied for the posts, and five were recruited.
Song Xin has a master's in education from La Trobe University in Australia and now works as assistant to the head of Paifang village in Beijing's Chaoyang district.
"The premier obstacle I need to conquer is how to communicate with villagers," the 28-year-old said. "I told myself I am a farmer from the day I took the job."
He said by doing this, he can really understand what villagers are thinking about.
Song's job also requires him to mediate civil disputes. "Sometimes the work is like cracking a hard nut, but it helped me understand how to be down-to-earth, as well as the importance of dealing well with every small issue," he said.
Overseas returnees have a comparatively broad scope of vision and active thinking and their innovation is an advantage, but grassroots jobs are not yet major employment channels for them, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, which is in charge of the city's recruitment of village heads.
Overseas returnees are less active in applying for grassroots positions and are less stable in retaining the work compared with graduates from domestic universities, the bureau said.
Among the five overseas returnees recruited in the city, three have quit, it said.
Liu Xin, a professor of human resources at Renmin University of China, said it's normal for overseas returnees to take grassroots jobs because the employment situation is tough. Many find it hard to get a job when they return to China, he said.
"Managing a village requires a deep understanding of the rural political situation, including grassroots democratic elections," Liu said. "It can take a long time."
Courses offered by overseas schools don't necessarily suit domestic jobs, he said.
Job-hopping sneaks in early
February 19th, 2013Year of the Snake not seen as very auspicious for the Chinese economy
The peak season for job-hopping in 2013 came earlier than usual because of economic uncertainty.
Some employees started to consider moving on even before the Spring Festival this year, much earlier than the usual peak season in March and April.
The months after the Lunar New Year are traditionally the best to find a new job because companies have completed their recruitment plans for the year and consequently just released job vacancies.
The year-end bonus is another important motivation for job-hoppers who leave their positions after the festival.
But the situation is different this year.
Pessimism about the industries affected by the economic downturn encouraged employees to search for new jobs as soon as possible, said experts.
It forced businesses to start looking for new staff before the festival to cope with the exodus of existing workers.
Many enterprises adjusted their strategies in 2012 so it is understandable that employees are not sure about their company's future during this period, said Liu Xingyang, a senior human resource expert with ChinaHR.com, the Chinese subsidiary of Monster Worldwide.
Employees complained about chaotic management and started to look for new jobs earlier in 2013, he said.
About 27 percent of the job-hoppers said they were quitting because of their company's poor prospects, according to a report on job-hopping from ChinaHR.com.
Zhang Gang, a manager at a real estate agency in Beijing, said he started looking for a new job early on and hoped to settle down in one before the festival.
"I want to get an ideal position before the festival, also before plenty of other people start chasing just one job," Zhang said in January.
Zhang said lack of job security in real estate drove him back to the consumer industry, in which he used to work.
The 28-year old said his salary was 50,000 yuan ($8,035) a month during the good times but now its is less than 50 percent of that.
"This year's bonus will not be particularly attractive either," he said. "It is not wise to wait for it."
Many companies reduced pay rises this year because of fears about the economy, the main reason chosen by 26 percent of job-hoppers looking to move on, according to ChinaHR's report.
The recruitment agency interviewed a selection of businesses. Only 0.8 percent of them said they will increase their employees' salaries by 20 percent or more in 2013. The percentage was 2.7 percent in 2012.
The number of companies awarding pay rises between 11 and 20 percent also fell from 16.7 percent in 2012 to a predicted 11.2 percent in 2013, according to the agency's report.
Meanwhile, the continuous rise of the consumer price index, which measures inflation, caused employees' living costs to increase, leading to high expectations over salary rises to relieve financial pressures.
"If their expectations are not achieved, they will have to find new jobs," said Liu Xiangyang.
ChinaHR.com also discovered financial, real estate and electric appliance manufacturing industries have more job-hoppers compared with other industries so far this year.
Employees in the financial industry are more sensitive to rising incomes and they feel the need for a higher quality of life, Liu said.
Some have chosen to weather the economic ill winds, while some have decided to leave.
Wang Li, a 27-year-old woman who has worked for an accounting firm in Beijing for three years, said she was asked to take five days of unpaid leave by the end of 2012. She used to be too busy to take year-end leave in the years before 2012.
Wang said she had less work to do recently and was not sure about her year-end bonus, although she received a 20-percent salary rise last October.
However, she said she and her colleagues would try to keep their jobs.
"It is not a good time to be quitting the job because the whole industry faces economic problems and there are few job opportunities in the market at the moment," she said.
Wang has good reasons for believing that.
American Express Co, the US multinational financial services corporation headquartered in New York, plans to eliminate 5,400 staff jobs in order to cut costs and adjust its business, the company said on Jan 10.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the US investment banking firm, said in July last year it would cut 1,000 staff worldwide.
"Keeping one's current job is a wise decision just now," said Huang Yi, a 23-year-old woman who has worked for one of the so-called "Big Four" accountancy firms since July last year.
If the employees really want to change jobs, the automotive and retail industries would be good choices, experts said.
"The automotive market and retail industries will both be very active," said Max Price, a partner at Antal China, a United Kingdom recruitment and headhunting company.
He said there is lots of organic growth forecast within the sectors.
Companies in these industries want experienced people rather than fresh graduates, which will lure some job-hoppers.
But Price nonetheless suggested people should be cautious about changing jobs and should stay three to five years with a company before moving on to a new role.
"Job-hopping every two or three years is terrible for career development in the long term," he said.
Chizhou Hosts Campaign to Promote Women's Employment
February 19th, 2013The Chizhou Women's Federation hosted a job fair especially for migrant workers in Chizhou City in east China's Anhui Province, on February 5 and 6, 2013, providing a number of suitable opportunities for rural laborers, which benefited many local women.
The job fair had 30 stands providing services for employment and entrepreneurship. More than 30 employing units attended the job fair, providing more than 2,000 work positions, which attracted more than 2,000 rural laborers and migrant workers who had returned to their home town during the Spring Festival. More than 800, including about 250 women, signified employment intentions during the two-day job fair.
The Chizhou Women's Federation distributed more than 500 brochures publicizing policies about small loans for women, safeguarding women's rights, and fighting against domestic violence.
President of the Chizhou Women's Federation Tao Xulin and Vice President of the Chizhou Women's Federation Wang Cuixiang talked with rural women at the job fair, encouraging them to work near their hometowns. They also encouraged them to attend professional housekeeping skills training and widen their scope for employment.
China created 12.7 million urban jobs in 2012 - ministry
February 18th, 2013China created 12.7 million new jobs in urban areas in 2012, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said on Friday.
The increase from 2011's 12.2 million new urban jobs left China's urban jobless rate steady at 4.1 percent at the end of 2012 - the 10th straight quarter officials say it has been at that level.
The urban jobless rate is China's only official unemployment indicator, but analysts say it grossly underestimates the true level of unemployment because it excludes about 250 million migrant workers from its surveys.
The National Bureau of Statistics said last week that China had created 11.9 million jobs in 2012 in urban areas. The differing numbers highlight the discrepancies in China's employment data which feed analysts' doubts.
Economists at Nomura in Hong Kong said other data signalled that China's labour market had tightened in the fourth quarter of 2012, with an index of the ratio of urban labour demand to supply rising to 1.08 from 1.05 in Q3 - its highest since the index was first published in 2002.
A group of about 20 migrant workers from Dalian in China's northeastern Liaoning province were demonstrating outside the labour ministry on Friday as the jobless data was presented at a news conference, demanding the ministry help them collect unpaid wages after completing work on a construction project.
China's migrant workers are the backbone of the country's labour force, working mainly in low paid jobs on construction sites and in factories.
Beijing has mandated that minimum wages rise at least 13 percent a year during the course of the current five-year plan that runs to 2015.
The same plan mandates annual increases in urban and rural household incomes of more than 7 percent, which would result in them doubling over 10 years.
The labour ministry said on Friday that 25 of China's 32 provinces raised minimum wages at an average of 20.2 percent in 2012.
In 2011, 24 provinces increased minimum wages by an average of 22 percent. In 2010, 30 provinces delivered increases of an average of 22.8 percent.
The most recent data available shows minimum wages in 2011 ranged from 1,500 yuan (152.79 pounds) per month in Shenzhen, the highest, to 870 yuan in Chongqing, the lowest.
The disparity of incomes has become a politically sensitive issue in China over the last decade as the gap between rich and poor has widened into a chasm.
About 13 percent of China's 1.3 billion people still live on less than $1.25 (79 pence) per day according to the United Nations Development Programme and average urban disposable income is just 21,810 yuan a year.
Meanwhile China has 2.7 million U.S. dollar millionaires and 251 billionaires, according to the Hurun Report.
Higher degrees worth less in job searches in China this year
February 18th, 2013As the Spring Festival is coming to an end, graduate students may find it harder to get a desirable job than usual, as a recent survey shows that only 29 percent of students with master's degrees have secured jobs, down from last year.
A survey conducted from December last year to January 2013 by My China Occupational Skills (MyCOS), a higher education consulting and outcome evaluation facility in China, found that only 29 percent of the graduate students surveyed have found jobs, seven percentage points lower than last year, Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.
The survey collected 10,940 valid questionnaires, of which 3,802 were from graduate students, 3,699 from undergraduates and 3,439 from graduates of vocational training schools.
According to the survey, 35 percent of postgraduates with an employment history have signed for a job, while 47 percent of fourth-year undergraduates with internship experience have signed, compared to the overall rate of 38 percent.
Another survey by MyCOS found that as of November 14, 2012, employment pressure on postgraduates has increased by three percentage points compared with the same period last year, while pressure for undergraduates has dropped by six percentage points.
"I've spent three years and tens of thousands of yuan getting a master's degree, but ended up with so much difficulty in finding a job... It feels like my graduate school years were a total waste," a graduate student, who wished to be called Li Yan, at the Central China Normal University was quoted by the Outlook Weekly as saying.
Comrise Expands Data Science Campus Recruiting Program to China
February 17th, 2013Comrise, a global consulting firm with headquarters in the U.S and China, is pleased to announce the expansion of its Data Science Campus Recruiting Program into China.
After the overwhelming success that Comrise, a global consulting firm with headquarters in the U.S and China, had during its nationwide Campus Recruiting Program, it is pleased to announce its expansion of the program into China.
"Our main focus right now is providing Data Scientists, Data Engineers, and strong Analytics Professionals to organizations in both the U.S. and China," says Rob Bigini , VP of Operations at Comrise. "Our Campus Recruiting Program – combined with strong ties to Universities across the globe, and 30 years of experience in Staff Supplementation, Permanent Placement and Project Based Solutions – allows us to do just that."
Over the past few months Comrise traveled to nearly a dozen prominent U.S. universities to recruit analytical talent for its "Big Data" training courses in ECL (Enterprise Control Language) – a query and control language, and HPCC (High Performance Computing Cluster) Systems – a data-intensive supercomputing platform, as well as for its clients and in-house Data Science Graduate Programme.
With nine offices between China and Hong Kong, Comrise is perfectly positioned to expand these offerings to graduate students overseas. Among the universities already visited by Comrise are Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, as well as Sichuan University and Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu.
Comrise's Chengdu office is in the process of expanding and moving into a new, 1,200 square meter office space, so it will serve as headquarters for the Data Science Graduate Programme in China. Students accepted into this program will participate in a "Big Data" training course before working on Big Data Proof of Concepts for client companies.
Organizations interested in hiring "Big Data" talent (i.e., Data Scientists, Data Engineers, Data Analysts, etc.), please e-mail marketing@comrise.com.
About Comrise:
Established in 1984, Comrise is a global consulting firm with headquarters in the U.S. and China. Our teams specialize in Managed IT, Big Data, and Workforce Solutions – Staff Augmentation, Recruiting, RPO, and Payrolling.
Job hunting in the Chinese New Year
February 16th, 2013With the smell of fireworks hanging in the air, we are rushing headlong into the Lunar New Year holiday. Common sense tells us to put our feet up and spend time with the family, and begin the job search again with a new sense of urgency after the holiday. After all, hiring managers are winding down, human resource professionals are busy with annual pay reviews, promotions and the endless year-end reports.
However, a lot of evidence would suggest that this is currently the best time to be searching for a new job. Firstly, your competition (i.e. other job hunters) is probably thinking “I’ll wait”; this makes it the best time for you to step up your job search. Research shows that calling off your job search is very counter-productive; instead of waiting, now is the time to redouble your effort to find that ideal new job, and gain an advantage over your relaxed competitors.
The other factor is, recruitment budgets are still there and HR people are still coming to work every day, looking for candidates. There is a great deal of pressure on managers to have people in place before the Golden period begins.
“During this time of year, I get so many calls from managers telling me how urgent their vacancies are and how few CVs they are receiving. They push me very hard. Candidates who make themselves available for interview, who answer their phones, who return emails the same day have a huge advantage at this time of year,” a Shanghai-based colleague told me.
So what are some of the proactive things that you can do? For one thing, make sure that your online presence is up to date. Touch base with any recruiters and HR people who have connected with you through LinkedIn during the past year. Make sure your profile clearly details your experience and strengths. It’s a great time to get in touch with any companies you interviewed within the past year. Send an e-card wishing them a happy holiday and remind them that you are available; they might have a new opening in their organisation that you are unaware of. Thirdly attend as many of those holiday parties as you can. Every business chamber and networking organisation holds one at this time of year; get out there and press the flesh.
And whilst we are on the topic, let’s remind ourselves of the few key points when planning a career change:
* Be very clear about what you bring to the table. Start by writing down your key skills and accomplishments, and then build the case for hiring you around those.
* Make sure that you are applying for the right jobs. It is too easy to fire your CV off to a hundred online postings that mention one key word you are interested in, but this is a waste of your time. Be realistic, and only target organisations that you want to work for.
* Use your network to better target your ideal jobs. Use Linkedin to see how many of your connections work in the company you are applying to.
Once you have got the interview, it is really important to be able to convince people that you have what it takes to succeed. Employers are looking for good cultural fits; you have to show that you understand that. Be clear about your salary and your expectations. Any sign of an ‘errrr’ or an ‘ummm’ before answering raises doubts in the interviewers mind. Demonstrate your worth by providing clear examples of where and when you have exceeded expectations in a similar role.
Follow the steps above and you’ll beat the competition to your new job, even in the so-called slowest period of the year.
HP tightens guidelines on China labour
February 16th, 2013Hewlett-Packard has issued new guidelines to its Chinese suppliers aimed at reducing the long hours worked by temporary student workers and ensuring that their recruitment process complies with local regulations.
The exploitation of students has been rife across the electronics supplier industry in China, as companies resort to hiring large numbers of temporary workers when orders for electronic gadgets spike, because of a product launch or seasonal demand.
HP’s supplier guidelines, issued on Friday, stipulated that all work must be voluntary, and local regulations regarding minimum working age and work environments must be adhered to. In addition, HP said it would ask suppliers to ensure that students would be asked to work only if working at the supplier “complemented the primary area of study” of the student.
Investigations into temporary work by labour activists in China have revealed a pattern of municipal governments requiring students to work at factories in the local area, as well as students frequently working long hours at companies that had little relevance to their studies.
HP said it had developed the guidelines in tandem with China’s Center for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility. The group’s executive director, Sanna Johnson, said the guidelines were a “clear recognition” of the company’s commitment to its workforce.
Geoff Crothall, communications director at China Labour Bulletin, a lobby group in Hong Kong, was sceptical that the guidelines and proposed audits by the company, which has more than 1,000 production suppliers spanning 45 countries and territories, would be effective.
“How are they going to follow through,” said Mr Crothall. “It’s not up to them how a supplier factory recruits, it is up to the factory.” Mr Crothall said that it was the demands by the electronics industry for flexibility and lean inventories that “created the problem [of a temporary student workforce] in the first place”.
Mr Crothall said that revision to China’s laws with regard to labour contracts made late last year, which were intended to crackdown on the widespread use of temporary contract labour, meant that all companies would have to be more vigilant on this issue. As many as 60m workers in China were employed by labour agencies across the country, he said. Numbers of temporary workers surged after China put in place new labour laws in 2008.
Mr Crothall said that the only way to ensure compliance was not by sending in auditors and periodically collecting information, but by allowing independent unions in factories and ensuring there was collective bargaining. “You can’t send in auditors a few times a year. Workers get bonuses for giving the right answers and penalised for giving the wrong ones,” he said.
Foxconn, which is under pressure from Apple to improve its workplace conditions, said on Monday that it would allow genuinely representative union elections for its 1.2m workers in China from next year.
Recruitment giant Monster sells 90% of its stake in ChinaHR to Saongroup for a reported $30m
February 7th, 2013Monster, one of the largest employment websites in the world, has sold the unsettled jobs listing website ChinaHR to IrishJobs.ie for an undisclosed amount.
The Irish Examiner has reported today that Saongroup, an international online recruitment business owned by Denis O’Brien and Leslie Buckley, has acquired Monster’s Chinese operation for $30 million.
Saongroup now has a 90 percent stake in the business, with US-based Monster holding on to the remaining 10 percent.
Saongroup already operates an online jobs listing service in 30 countries, including China, through the IrishJobs.ie website. Although by default it’s set to display jobs in Ireland, the company’s sister site features openings in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong and Chengdu.
Combined, Saongroup says its employment websites receive more than 25 million visitors each month.
Ciaran McCooey, CEO of Soangroup, told the Irish Independent earlier today that the acquisition would help the company build a greater presence in China’s major cities.
“It has really positioned us in the tier one cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the mega cities,” he reportedly said. “Our own business had a very strong presence in the tier two and three cities outside of that, but we weren’t servicing the tier ones. It gives us a pan China presence now, which is excellent.”
Saongroup’s total workforce will now increase to 3,000 as a result of the acquisition.
Tech In Asia has reported that between 2005 and 2008, Monster pumped more than $240 million into ChinaHR as it transitioned from being an initial investor to its owner. The $30 million figure – which hasn’t been confirmed by either party yet – therefore represents a significant loss for the company.
It follows reports that last week, ChinaHR laid off more than half of its Beijing staff after offering them what has been described as “a pretty generous severance package.” That didn’t sit well with the remaining workers though, igniting a protest at around 2pm in the afternoon. Tech In Asia said that the management staff sent by Monster to announce the layoffs hid in their offices until local police arrived to settle everybody down.
Saongroup acquires Monster's Chinese operation
February 6th, 2013Saongroup, the online recruiter majority owned by Denis O’Brien, has acquired Monster’s China operation, ChinaHR.com, for an undisclosed amount.
Monster Worldwide will retain a ten per cent shareholding in the combined China business of Saongroup and the agreement takes place with immediate effect. Monster had previously announced its intention to divest its operation in China.
Saongroup already has a comprehensive national network of offices and websites in tier two, three and four cities throughout China and the addition of ChinaHR boosts this network to almost 200 cities across the country, whilst also giving it a strong presence in the tier one cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
“ChinaHR is an excellent match with Saongroup China. Its blue chip client list and strong tier one city presence complements Saongroup’s robust online platform and pan-China reach. The acquisition of ChinaHR repositions Saongroup as a market leader and leaves us well positioned to accelerate our growth in the Chinese market.” said Ciaran McCooey, group chief executive officer of Saongroup.
Saongroup.com is a global online recruitment company with operations across four continents – Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas – and websites live in 30 countries. Irishjobs.ie is its domestic trading entity.
Saongroup is 75 per cent owned by Mr O’Brien, with chairman Leslie Buckley owning the balance.
Hisense Constructing New R&D Hub
February 5th, 2013In late 2012 Chinese appliance and HVAC OEM Hisense began constructing what it said will be the world's largest research and development base, in Qingdao, China.
The new facility will carry out R&D across the gamut of Hisense industry technology. Its biggest global markets are refrigerators, air-conditioners, and TVs.
The new R&D facility will cover 430 acres and the company said it will have "tens of thousands of R&D employees."
The new facility replaces the company's existing R&D center on a 50-acre site in Qingdao. The company said the old facility, in a former Hisense factory, can't meet the demand of the company's rapid growth.
The company intends to attract global talent to staff the new facility, including through overseas recruitment, global cooperation, and acquisitions. In the last year, the company has acquired Canada's Flextronics, U.S.-based Archcom Chip, Huaya, Taiwan Laser, and others. It said dozens of technology leaders have already joined the company from the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
The new Qingdao base will serve as the hub for the company's global R&D network, which includes facilities in the United States, Canada, Germany, and seven other regions.
Expat talents urged to contribute to China
February 1st, 2013Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday invited more foreign experts to work in China, pledging better conditions for them.
With the Chinese Lunar New Year around the corner, Wen extended New Year's greetings to about 20 veteran foreign experts working in China's education, scientific research, culture and health sectors. They were invited to the Great Hall of the People for a seminar with the premier on Thursday.
Wen said foreign experts have contributed to China's revolution and modernization drive, which the Chinese people will always remember.
He also said China will unswervingly stick to the reform and opening-up policy.
"A nation can be prosperous only when it is open and inclusive," the premier said, adding that the number and quality of foreign experts reflect an open and civilized country.
"We will, as we are doing, welcome a large number of foreign experts, especially high-end talent in all fields to work in China and we will provide better policies and working environments for them," he said.
More than 550,000 foreign experts were working in China in 2012, according to Zhang Jianguo, director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.
China has introduced various programs to attract foreign professionals.
The Recruitment Program of Foreign Experts, which started in 2011, aims to attract up to 1,000 foreign professionals over 10 years to help spur innovation, promote scientific research and corporate management.
The project has brought in 94 recruits.
Professionals recruited by the program will be entitled to subsidies, research allowances, favorable salaries, residency permits, medical care and insurance policies.
Guillermo Pulido of Mexico is one of the recruits.
Pulido now works as the director of the Center of Mexican Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
His job is to help more people in China understand Mexican culture, through its language, literature and history.
"I chose (to work in) China without a second thought," said Pulido, adding that his interest in China began when he was young. "I read books about ancient China at school in Mexico, and I became helplessly curious, especially about the ancient philosophies of Confucius and Lao Tzu," he said.
Wang Huiyao, director of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, said in general the number of foreign experts working in China is comparatively small.
"We should further make our global talent introduction polices in accordance with international practices, such as using talent immigration measures and introducing more convenient visa and residence policies," he said.
"The United States attracts around 62 percent of the world's top scientists to live there and produces around 70 percent of the Nobel Price winners in natural science work in the country. That is closely related to its immigration and visa policy," Wang said.
Besides scientists, China should introduce more global talent in fields such as the economy, corporate management and higher education, he suggests.
ChinaHR.com lays off employees amid buyout plans
February 1st, 2013Summary: Monster Worldwide's China unit is starting to shed 54 percent of its 400 workers, and remaining employees organize a sit-in office protest to demand for compensation should they be laid off this year.
Chinese recruitment site ChinaHR.com, a subsidiary of Monster Worldwide, has started laying off 54 percent of its 400 staff members amid discussions of the company being sold.
According to Sina Tech Wednesday, the dismissed staff were compensated three months' salary plus additional amounts depending on the time they have spent with the company. For example, an employee who has been with ChinaHR.com for five years will get an additional five months' worth of his salary. Pregnant staff members will receive an extra 24 months' salary, it added.
The layoffs come amid reports in November 2012 that Monster Worldwide will sell off its Chinese business unit, which it fully acquired in 2008, as part of its restructuring program to curb losses of US$130 billion. The acquiring company has not been disclosed though.
However, employees who did not get laid off were unsatisfied as they were not included in the compensation scheme. They were also disgruntled that ChinaHR CEO Luo Bingquan did not want to reveal details of the buyout, citing confidentiality, it reported.
On Tuesday night, more than 200 employees organized a sit-in protest in ChinaHR's headquarters in Beijing.
After 10 hours of negotiation, both Luo and Monster Chairman Sal Iannuzzi proposed the remaining staff be compensated with the same plan if they are to be laid off in 2013 following ChinaHR's acquisition, Sina Tech reported.
The proposal is subject to the approval from the unnamed buyer of the Web company, it added.
Apple finally takes action on underage labour
January 31st, 2013Apple has stuck to its word and begun to cut ties with Chinese suppliers who are found to employ underage workers.
Apple last year joined forces with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) after a report from the organisation found evidence of the practise at some of Apple’s suppliers.
Now the company has released its Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, in which it was revealed that Apple has cut ties with Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics (PZ) after 74 violations were discovered.
Staffing firm Shenzhen Quanshun Human Resources, which supplied workers to PZ, reportedly went as far as to aid families to produce fake age documentation. 106 active cases were revealed.
Interestingly, notorious employer Foxconn “is on track to meet the FLA's recommendations by July 1st”, The Verge reports.
In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook has made a point of stressing that improved labour practices are a key priority for Apple – a notable change from the seemingly opposite policy employed by his predecessor (and Buddhist!) Steve Jobs.
The company performed 393 labour audits in 2012 – that’s a 72 per cent increase over 2011.
Building on his article in the month's Global Recruiter, Max Price, Partner at Antal International, China gives a view on the recruitment sector in 2013
January 25th, 2013We all know there is plenty of information in the international and local press about how the economy and therefore the jobs market is slowing down. 2012 saw the lowest rate of GDP for some time and of course this will concern people. What we need to remember that a GDP of well over seven per cent is huge, and that over Q4 GDP rose again, so all of the signs are positive that growth will continue. Foreign direct investment in China is also expected to remain steady. As recruiters we are in a unique position to be in regular contact with the hiring departments within multinational and local business as well as being in contact with the local talent pool and this piece is based around the feedback from both sides.
China is a completely candidate driven market still and this will continue in 2013. What seems to be different is the company and candidate will value each other differently based on the previous few years in China, and this is where problems can occur. Candidates at the moment have lots of questions that need to be addressed before we get to the employers side of 2013. The Chinese workforce is still active in the employment market and is still one of the most active candidate markets in the world. By active I mean that the majority of employees out there will be interested in speaking to companies about their opportunities and are approaching companies and recruitment consultancies directly to see what is available for someone with their skillset and experience. The average recruiter in China will receive well over 100 applications a day from candidates directly or through mediums such as Zhaopin.com. Candidates are looking for exciting new challenges at all times and this will have a huge affect on the 2013 job market, as it has done towards the end of 2012.
Over the last six months there have been two main candidate observations during their interviews with companies. First of all, companies are taking longer in hiring decisions and secondly, companies are not offering the salary increases that are expected. There are other observations but these two are most prevalent and a lot of candidates say the same. Both of the above mentioned points are true, companies are taking longer to make decisions and companies aren’t offering the same salary increases as before as will be address later in the article. The fact that a lot of candidates are experiencing this adds to the impression that there is some looming financial crisis in China and that everyone should be panicking about their job security. Job seekers talk to each other regularly, candidates that are being headhunted let their friends know that they have been approached for a great new job, it is human nature. As these interview processes talk longer or the packages aren’t what candidates expect this information doesn’t just stay with them, it spreads around their circles, and then their friend’s circles like a virus. A virus spreading the self fulfilling prophecy of a crash in the jobs market in China which simply isn’t true. There will be changes in 2013 but change is good providing companies and candidates are well educated about the change.
Our job is to speak with hiring managers and HR professionals every day and the good news is that the vast majority of companies that actively engage with recruitment companies are expecting headcount growth in 2013. These companies range from multiple industry sectors, from Automotive to Luxury goods, from technical IT to Banking, from Retail to Construction. Certainly some of these industries are expecting lower growth than others, the construction industry is going to be relatively slow whereas the retail market, especially middle to high end luxury retail, is going to boom, but the common theme here is that all will be hiring, increasing headcount, and they all expect to have significant replacement recruitment to do as their employees move on to pastures new. As you can see it’s so far so positive for the job market, however there are snags. The points that candidates raised are valid, decisions take longer and the same increased salaries aren’t being offered and it is going to take some time with the two groups to come to agreement with that. Over the past few years the market has boomed in China, jobs outnumbered skilled employees and as candidates were originally underpaid their new companies were happy to give 30-50 per cent salary increases in order for a talented individual to move to them. The problem with that was that this war for talented individuals meant that professionals were moving again 9-12 months later for another 30-50 per cent increase and the cycle repeated itself again and again. It is not uncommon to see a CV with six different companies in an eight year career, the problem for candidates is that this is no longer acceptable to a rising number of companies.
When the boom in China took place, MNCs didn’t seem to care so much about backgrounds, providing someone could do the job required they would be hired and companies paid what was needed. Now that salaries are at an all time high in the Tier 1 cities and there is a very slight pinch in growth in China, MNCs and local companies alike are looking for their growth to come from increased performance from their people, in order for companies to get this increase they need to have time to train and develop them and this is where the two candidate points come into play. As we all know the standard job cycle globally runs in three stages, Year One – Learn your job, Year Two – Get good at your job and Year Three – Get bored.
The problem in China is that employees have been completing year one, then moving on to start the cycle again. As an employer you don’t really get much return on the investment of hiring until after year 1 has passed and it’s something that can no longer be tolerated. The reason why interview processes and hiring decisions are taking longer is because employers want to be sure that this candidate is right for their business, the candidate will stay and develop, and eventually add value to the organisation. Companies will intentionally delay interview procedures because they want to see that a candidate is truly interested in the role and the company, not the paycheck. This reasoning is true for the lower salary increases. Increases are still good compared on a global scale, an average of 17 per cent salary increase when moving job is fantastic, but nowhere near the same amount it was one year ago.
Companies will pay for the right people, and some large increases are still being offered, but not to candidates that have moved three times in the last four years as there is a huge risk in hiring someone that is likely to leave in nine months. The disruption to the team and the monetary cost of a bad hire is potentially devastating. Another point to mention here, though slightly off topic is Year Two. This is the stage that most job seekers in China have not been completing over the last few years, this means that a staggering number of candidates have the title of manager, or director, or senior partner etc without actually completing the required tasks to be proficient at the job. Extra rounds of interviews are being brought into a standard process in order to check this ability on a hands on level rather than theoretical and things like assessment centres are now becoming common place.
Moving to a linked topic to this, if, as an employer, you are offering less than the job market expects and are taking longer than normal to make your hires how do you attract people? The answer is in training and development. 51 per cent of candidates are more interested in in-house development than salary because of the experience over the last few years where this hasn’t been evident. Over the last six months the increase in demand for training and development specialist from HR departments has been huge across China and large amounts of vacancies at Manager or Director level insist on having someone who has experience in training and developing subordinates, some companies will actively get references from previous subordinates before extending an offer to a candidate.
In summary, 2013 will still be a great year for the job market, but job seekers and employers need to understand the market is changing and it wont be going back to the way it was which is not a bad thing.
College graduates pursue 'China dream'
January 24th, 2013While most Chinese college graduates were vying for posts in the civil service, four young men chose to build their "China dream" by starting a business, a source of encouragement for many of the country's netizens.
Tan Longchao, Ma Nan, Chen Zhe and Tang Ming opened a shop that sells native products at the end of 2011, after graduating from Beifang University of Nationalities in northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
The sales volume of their store, "Dream Sweet", reached 1 million yuan ($160,000) last year. As a shop and a distributor they have signed contracts with more than 20 other companies, and become the general agent for nearby provinces.
The success story has led to wide discussions on the Internet.
During the college graduation and recruitment period, some young Chinese have been inspired to pursue their dreams.
This is in contrast to the news that up to 2,900 undergraduates and 29 postgraduates applied to be sanitation workers in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.
"After hearing about the Harbin story, I felt disappointed for the younger generation of our country. The four young men from Ningxia offer hope and I believe many youngsters will be inspired." said a netizen named "Xiaobudian".
On his blog, "Xiaodong" said, "I was hesitating about starting my own business but I know I will be halfway to success if I am brave enough to follow my dream."
Just like other college graduates, Tan and his business partners were expected, by family and friends, to become public servants, which could have ensured them a stable life.
"My family was confused and disagreed with me when I first wanted to start the business," said Tan, "they said I was wasting my time and tried to persuade me to apply for village official roles."
According to Tan, all four got permission from their families to continue the business by showing them the sales volume in the first month, 30,000 yuan ($4,827).
The partners invested all the money they earned last year to develop the business.
"Earning money and finding a stable job should not be seen as a symbol of growing up. For us, doing something that we are passionate about is the way to become more mature. We are satisfied that we didn't lose any money in the first year, and we have gained experience in marketing and running the business." Tan said.
According to Ma Nan, the sales target for this year is 3 million yuan ($483,000). "Whether our business is successful or not, we have learned something and grown up during the process. That was the original intention of starting the business." Ma said.
According to statistics, the number of civil servant applicants surpassed one million each year since 2009. The number is expected to top 1.56 million this year. Some web users expressed concern with this.
A netizen named "Lixiaoguan" wrote, "With so many young people giving up their dreams and potential, who will realize the 'China dream'?"
Liu Xiaocheng, a teacher from the school of journalism and communication of Lanzhou University said, "Starting a business is not the only way to realize a dream, but seeking a stable life is definitely not a favorable trend."
He added, "Increasing the fairness of the social welfare system and providing a more flexible policy of becoming a civil servant will be great encouragement for young people to pursue their own dreams."
Civil Aid Service recruitment drive to run until February 4
January 24th, 2013Hong Kong (HKSAR) - The Civil Aid Service (CAS) invites people who are interested in serving the community and undertaking various emergency duties to apply to join the service. The recruitment drive will end on February 4.
The CAS is a government auxiliary emergency service established under the Civil Aid Service Ordinance. The primary duty of the CAS is to provide civil support services during emergencies.
The CAS works closely with other full-time disciplinary forces in undertaking a wide range of emergency duties during natural disasters such as typhoons, floods and landslips, rescuing hikers in distress and fighting hill fires.
CAS members are also deployed for crowd management duties at major public functions and patrolling in country parks and hiking trails.
Members may be required to perform cadet management and youth training duties if they are deployed to the CAS Cadet Corps.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region permanent residents aged 16 or above, who speak fluent Cantonese and read Chinese, are welcome to apply to enrol. Applicants under the age of 18 should include their parent or guardian's written consent in their applications.
Recruit selection procedures will include a functional and fitness test, a written test on use of Chinese and English, an interview and a medical examination. Completed enrolment forms should reach the Records Office, 4/F, CAS Headquarters, 8 To Wah Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, on or before February 4.
The enrolment form ¡]CAS 17 (Rev 1/2012)¡^ can be downloaded from the CAS website (www.cas.gov.hk) or obtained at the reception counter, G/F, CAS Headquarters.
For enquiries, please send email to casenq@cas.gov.hk or call 3651 9383 or 3651 9375.
Source: HKSAR Government
China pollution makes recruiter's job more difficult
January 23rd, 2013Air pollution in China is driving away foreign talent from some key cities, including the capital city of Beijing, and making it harder for multinational firms to persuade their employees to relocate there, hiring managers said.
“They are not familiar with the place and the country, so the heavy pollution is an important factor for them to consider,” said a senior executive at Antal International Germany in an e-mail interview. Antal International is a global recruitment firm working with multinational companies. The services offered by its German office includes recruiting foreign executives to work in China for large carmakers such as BMW, Audi and Volkswagen.
“Air pollution is becoming a real issue among expats working with Audi and BMW. A senior lawyer has asked to be transferred out of the area very recently,” said Richard Adam, a managing partner at Antal International Germany who regularly hires western talents to work in Asia.
The difficulty of finding people to fill in positions in Chinese cities, on a scale of 1 to 10, was rated as 6, by Adam.
And while there seems to be few concerns expressed when it come recruiting westerners to the Shanghai, China’s financial hub, 60 per cent of those negotiating the possibility of working in Beijing and other Chinese industrial cities mentioned air pollution or health issues as a one of their top concerns, according to Adam.
“Life balance and health is getting more important and people take environmental issues into consideration. Nobody is going to ruin his or her health when there are job alternatives under better conditions. When people can choose, they take what is good for them, and money cannot compensate for health,” he said.
Sending someone from a “better” place to a less attractive one with a lower quality of life does not necessarily mean the person will get monetary compensation as the cost of living might be cheaper, said Adam. Yet after what happened to Beijing recently, the situation “might change”, he added.
On Saturday, a Beijing air pollution index measuring particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5) hit levels as high as 400 in some areas of the city. A level above 300 is considered hazardous, while the World Health Organisation recommends a daily level of no more than 25.
Foreigners who work in “obviously polluted areas” could expect to be paid 5 to 12 per cent more than those working in a comparable position in places with a better environment, Adam said.
While international firms may have to pay more to attract foreigners to locate in China, Chinese candidates, however, said pollution and environmental issues were not a key concern when relocating to Beijing from other inland cities.
The opportunities, salary level, and exciting working environment of a first-tier city usually outweigh the inconvenience of poor air quality for Chinese employees, according to Antal International China.
Seek increases share of Chinese job site Zhaopin
January 22nd, 2013Job seeking website Seek has increased its share in Chinese employment site Zhaopin. The company’s equity interest will increase from 55.5% to between 72.3% and 79%.
The announcement:
SEEK Limited (“SEEK”) today announced it has entered into a share purchase agreement to increase its ownership stake in Zhaopin Limited (“Zhaopin”).
Zhaopin operates a leading online employment marketplace in China and this transaction is part of SEEK’s continued strategy to increase its exposure to leading international businesses. SEEK’s equity interest will increase from 55.5% to between 72.3% and c79% depending on the level of take up from certain shareholders.
Jason Lenga, Managing Director of SEEK International and Director of Zhaopin, said “Zhaopin is a leading player in many of China’s geographic regions and across several key online operating metrics. As China’s urbanisation and internet penetration increases, we expect it will be the world’s largest online employment marketplace.”
When comparing the 2012 financial year to 2011, Zhaopin’s financial performance has been strong, recording revenue growth of 28% and EBITDA growth of 70% (FY12 v FY11).
Zhaopin’s local management team has performed well in achieving these results and leading a highly successful business. SEEK fully support the local team’s ability to lead the way going forward.
Mr Lenga said, “Despite a recent slowdown in China’s economic conditions, Zhaopin’s team has demonstrated a deep understanding of local conditions and their needs. The business will continue to invest appropriately to drive Zhaopin’s growth and focus on leading the company to a potential IPO.”
“This transaction is an important step in expanding SEEK’s exposure in key international markets as well as a compelling growth opportunity for SEEK’s shareholders.”
SEEK’s equity interest in Zhaopin will depend on the take up levels from other shareholders based on SEEK’s offer to acquire additional shares. However, it is expected that SEEK will increase its current interests from 55.5% to 72.3% to c79%. There is a provision that SEEK may acquire further ownership interests in Zhaopin in FY14.
The acquisition will take place via a sell down of shares from Macquarie and other individual shareholders.
The Judge Group Partners With the Shanghai Government to Co-Launch IT Services Exchange Program
January 22nd, 2013The Judge Group and the Shanghai Information Service Outsourcing Development Center, an affiliate branch of the Shanghai municipal government, have co-launched the U.S.-China IT Services Exchange Program 2013 to help U.S. and Chinese businesses exchange supply and demand information and promote partnership in both markets.
U.S. and Chinese companies seeking to conduct business in both countries and with demonstrated interest in overseas IT and Business Process Outsourcing will have the opportunity to build mutually beneficial relationships.
Judge and the iISO will host events for participating companies to explore potential partnerships. Events will be held in Shanghai in April, June and October and in select U.S. cities in November. Judge will select the participating U.S. companies and facilitate the U.S.-based events. The iISO will reimburse participating companies for their travel expenses and facilitate travel and accommodations in China.
"Judge has been conducting business in China since 2008, and we have been very successful in building a relationship with the Shanghai government," said Martin E. Judge, Jr., CEO and founder of The Judge Group. "We are very proud to have been selected to be their exclusive partner for this program. It's truly a privilege for us to have the opportunity to help other companies establish partnerships abroad."
For more information about participating in the U.S.-China Services Exchange Program, contact Eric Qiu at (+1) 571-230-2911 (U.S.), (+86) 135-0178-2375 (China), or eqiu@judge.com.
About Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta Metropolitan Area:
Shanghai, a megacity of 20 million, is located at the tip of the Yangtze River Delta Metropolitan Area in eastern China. It is one of the most modern and business-friendly Chinese cities to U.S. investors and has been home to over 3,500 U.S.-invested businesses. Yangtze River Delta Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 150 million living in Shanghai and a cluster of tier-2 and tier-3 cities about an hour away, is one of the most prosperous regions in China.
About The Judge Group:
The Judge Group, established in 1970, is a global leader in professional services that provides technology consulting, staffing solutions, corporate training and human capital management. Our solutions are delivered through an annual workforce of 4,500 professionals and a network of locations across the United States, Canada and Asia. If you would like to learn more about The Judge Group, visit www.judge.com or call toll free (800) 650-0035.
The Judge Group was recently ranked the 17th Largest Information Technology Staffing Firm in the U.S. by Staffing Industry Analysts.
The Judge Group logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=14430
Man pays Chinese company one fifth of his salary to do his job for him
January 21st, 2013A US employee is said to have outsourced his job to China.
A security check on a company revealed that a member of staff had been paying a fifth of his six-figure salary to a firm in Shenyang to do his job for him, reports BBC News.
The software developer spent his work day surfing the web, YouTube and eBay.
Andrew Valentine of operator Verizon said that the scam came to light when the US company asked Verizon for an audit after a suspected security breach and asked the risk team to investigate some irregular activity on its VPN logs.
An active VPN connection was found from Shenyang to the employee's computer and Verizon was called to look into what was thought to be malware used to share confidential information with China.
The employee's computer contained hundreds of invoices from the Shenyang contractor, it has been reported.
Valentine said: "Authentication was no problem. He physically FedExed his RSA token to China so that the third-party contractor could log-in under his credentials during the workday.
"Evidence even suggested he had the same scam going across multiple companies in the area.
"It looked like he earned several hundred thousand dollars a year, and only had to pay the Chinese consulting firm about $50,000 annually."
Chinese companies want more staff
January 21st, 2013China tops any other Asia-Pacific market in its number of companies that plan to hire more employees, a report says.
Nearly 56 percent of organizations interviewed for a report by the global human resources company Hudson, said they plan to increase the number of permanent staff in the first quarter of 2013.
The enthusiasm to hire comes amid the recovery in the growth of the Chinese economy and an increasing number of multinationals moving their regional headquarters to China, said Lily Bi, general manager of Hudson Shanghai.
The salaries offered to talented workers will also increase, Bi said.
"International giants and local companies are attaching more importance to research and development work. Therefore, talented professionals have plenty of opportunities, especially in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries," said Bi, stressing that higher salaries offered to sought-after workers is another trend taking shape in the Chinese job market.
Multinational companies moving their headquarters to China, Shanghai especially, have also helped to create more jobs.
According to statistics provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, as of September 2012, around 60 multinational companies had Asia-Pacific or Asian headquarters in Shanghai.
The pharmaceutical and biologics company AstraZeneca moved its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai in June. McDonald's and Ikea have also moved their Asia-Pacific headquarters to Shanghai.
Although its economic growth slowed in 2012, China is still the second-largest economy in the world. The central government forecast that the country's GDP will grow by 7.5 percent in 2013 and its unemployment rate will remain stable at around 4 percent.
China is now the world's fastest-growing automobile market and skilled professionals are needed to sustain expansion, particularly in smaller cities. Salary packages are becoming more streamlined and bonuses are down, but candidates are ambitious and looking for increments of up to 25 to 30 percent to switch roles, the report said.
Guo Yating, 32, with three years of experience as an automotive research and development engineer, moved to AVL, an Austrian-based automotive consulting firm, in December with a 50 percent salary increase and a 10-day extension of annual leave to 15 days.
"Frankly speaking, the chances were far scarcer in 2011 and 2012 when the economy, especially the manufacturing industry, was pretty lousy. It was quite difficult for fresh graduates to get a job. But on the contrary, R&D engineers with experience have been receiving more enquires from headhunters in the previous two years," Guo said.
Bi from Hudson said salary increases will also be offered to people working in newly opened positions, even though they are in older sectors such as the advertising industry.
"Employees with expertise in digital and new media, e-commerce and social media may receive increments of up to 20 percent," she said.
Li Daifei, 28, a project manager at a Shanghai-based advertisement agency, was offered her current job at the end of 2012, which saw her salary rise by 40 percent. Her experience with digital media helped her make the switch.
New Hyundai Chinese R&D center may be located in Yantai, Shandong
January 18th, 2013In order to keep up with its rivals in China, Hyundai also has plans to establish a new research and development center in the country. According to a report appearing in the International Finance News, the center may be located in the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Shandong's eastern city of Yantai.
Earlier in May, Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Xue Rongxing had announced that the manufacturer will construct a Chinese R&D center. Then, earlier this month, posts looking for talent to work at the 'Hyundai Motor (China) R&D center' begun appearing on several famous employment websites. According to the post, the center's address is in Yantai, Shandong. When contacted by telephone, sources from the company confirmed that the posts were made on behalf by Hyundai.
Meanwhile, representatives from the Yantai Investment and Employment Agency announced that preliminary work on the Hyundai R&D center has begun in the city's Economic and Technological Development Zone. The source added that Hyundai has yet to announce when the center will be officially established.
Hyundai's Chinese offices have yet to comment on any of the above reports.
Hyundai currently possesses five global R&D centers, located in its native South Korea, Germany, the US, India and Japan, respectively. Due to the lack of such a center in China, the Beijing Hyundai joint venture has obtained new vehicles, such as the new ix35 and eight generation Sonata, from Europe and the US. Mr. Xue has stated his desire to see Beijing Hyundai begin exporting vehicles following establishment of the Chinese R&D center.
Jiangsu town breaks the mold in recruiting
December 31st, 2012Li Yufang didn't follow the typical path to a government job — in fact, she didn't even know it was an option until she received a call from a headhunter.
"I was very surprised," said the 35-year-old, whose resume listed work at a wholesale market, a property agency and an investment firm, all in Guangdong province.
"They told me I'd been selected for an interview for a senior position at a city government, which normally don't recruit through agencies."
Li got the job, and in October, when more than 1 million young people were preparing to take the annual civil service exam, she was settling in as deputy director of the service industry development bureau in Shengze, a town under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province.
Promoting staff members to fill senior positions remains the norm among most Chinese government agencies.
The Suzhou government said it broke the mold five years ago when it began using Suzhou Industrial Park Human Resources Development Corp to identify and lure quality candidates from the private sector.
Since then, the State-owned headhunter, based in Suzhou Industrial Park, has found about 100 candidates for various government departments and filled 20 positions.
Li was one of eight recruits from the private sector to start working for the city in October.
"We cater to a diverse range of industries across the country, working to detailed requirements and limited time," said Kang Yue, general manager of Suzhou Industrial Park Human Resources Development. "Different departments in Suzhou have specific requirements and preferences for the positions, detailing the age, gender, work experience, and the length of leadership in the related industry."
Most positions that authorities list are in auditing, finance, urban planning, and science and technology, which all require professional knowledge and practical experience, he said.
"This new method brought me from Guangzhou to Suzhou to apply my skills to government tasks," said Li, who, like others recruited this way, must wait three years before they can be offered a lifetime contract.
Kang said that so far, all of his recruits have been kept on.
"We contacted the headhunting company to help with the recruitment of certain senior officials because we were unable to find people who would qualify for the positions in 2008, and because we noticed we didn't have the many resources that headhunters do," said the director of public information for the Suzhou government, who gave his name as Weng.
He added that the city would like to try the new method again soon because it was unexpectedly efficient and found excellent candidates within a short time.
According to the Suzhou information department, the city had problems finding enough applicants when it advertised open positions via traditional media.
"We don't rely completely on the headhunter — it merely helps us early in the process to locate candidates from a wider range," Weng said.
According to expert opinion, Suzhou is on the right track.
"The Suzhou government has taken an innovative step by involving the private sector in its recruiting," said Ren Yuan, a professor at Fudan University's School of Social Development and Public Policy.
More city governments should be encouraged to adopt similar modern methods to hire more experienced people in specific professional industries from society, he said.
Chinese women protest ‘men only' recruitment
December 31st, 2012SHANGHAI--A group of women, including college students, in eight cities across the country, accused companies of gender discrimination in their hiring practices, flooding government organizations with letters of protest on Dec. 26.
The letters called for equal treatment of men and women in company hiring practices.
The joint action followed a protest by university students in November against intrusive gynecological tests as part of the application process for China’s civil service.
The latest letter-writing campaign started in April after Zheng Churan, then a university student in Guangzhou, sent letters to 500 companies requesting equal treatment for male and female applicants but received only one response.
Zheng graduated from university in June, but she did not stop her campaign.
Enraged at the fact that some companies turn women applicants away at the door, she went on Weibo, China’s microblog website similar to Twitter, and called for action to be taken.
“It is unfair to be deprived of an opportunity to apply, simply because you are a woman,” she said.
About 20 students from across the country sent about 550 letters addressed to government organizations in charge of social security and labor inspection.
The letters demanded the government penalize some 270 companies, which said in online recruitment sites, “only men are eligible to apply.”
Chinese laws prohibit companies from rejecting job applicants on the basis of gender.
L'Oreal opens local training facility
December 24th, 2012L'Oreal China on Thursday opened an academy in Shanghai for training and developing talent in the cosmetics industry in order to promote sustained business growth in the world's most populous country.
Occupying a total area of 3,300 square meters of a seven-story building in the city center, the training center has 20 classrooms that can accommodate a total of 600 students taking classes at the same time.
The center integrates training with education, and it is devoted to the development of talent in all cosmetics-related jobs, including beauty advisors, hair stylists, skin care advisors, salespersons and managers.
The center will serve all four business divisions and 20 of L'Oreal China's best-known brands. The center plans to train 17,000 hairdressers in the coming year, according to an initial company estimate.
L'Oreal has a history of commitment to talent development. The company's leadership said it hopes to maintain high-quality human resources via various types of training, which will lay a solid foundation for the company's future growth.
Alexis Perakis-Valat, CEO of L'Oreal China, said it is important to not only focus on market share and other metrics of business success but to also pay close attention to talent development.
"Talent is a valuable asset to us. The establishment of this training center is one of the most important steps we have taken in China. It caters to the need of business development and is evidence of our confidence and promise of sustainable development in the Chinese market," he said.
The establishment of the center is one more piece of the puzzle for L'Oreal as it continues to grow its China business.
Since it entered the Chinese market in 1997, L'Oreal has managed to achieve steady double-digit growth for 11 consecutive years. It generated more than 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in total sales in China last year, further consolidating the country's role as one of the three most important markets for the entire group.
L'Oreal has about 3,000 employees in China. With two plants, one management development center, an Asia-Pacific operation center and a state-of-the-art research and innovation center dedicated to Chinese and other Asian consumers, it is one of the few multinational companies possessing R&D, production, logistics and human resources development facilities in the country.
China raises the compensation rate of work-related injury insurance
December 10th, 2010China has raised the compensation to be paid through work-related injury insurance during a regular meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday.
Regulation on Work-related Injury Insurance and the measures for the control of invoices were revised at the Wednesday meeting.
According to the revision, the compensation to families of those who die from work-related injuries has been raised to 20 times the per capita disposable annual income in urban areas. For work-related disability, the compensation rose by one to three months of salaries of the insured employee.
The revision has also widened applications of the regulation. Previously, only enterprises and small business employers were obliged to pay the premium, but now public institutions, social groups, non-profit grass-root organizations, foundations, law firms and accounting firms will also provide their employees with work-related injury insurance.
The revised measures on management of invoices calls for strict punishments to those engaged in producing, selling and using fake invoices.
The Cost of Doing Business With China
November 3rd, 2010By Carl Bialik
My print column this week examines the effect on U.S. jobs of the trade deficit with China. Does the massive imbalance between imports and exports cost the U.S. millions of jobs?
A frequently cited report says it has. Dozens of members of Congress signed a letter last month citing the report from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, that found trade with China has cost the U.S. 2.4 million jobs.
However, some economists and China analysts point out several potential problems with the estimate, including that several countries have run up trade deficits during boom times as they invested in growth — including the U.S., where there has been essentially no correlation between unemployment and trade deficits, overall and with China. The numbers move seemingly in random ways compared to each other.
“By the logic of their argument, any country that runs a trade deficit should experience perpetual loss of jobs and wages, and any country that runs a surplus should experience perpetual gains in jobs and wages,” Arthur Kroeber, head of China research for the economic-research company GaveKal Dragonomics, wrote in an email. “Yet many developing countries run consistent current account deficits (for example South Korea during much of the 1970s and ’80s) and still experience high job and wage growth, while other countries run persistent surpluses yet have stagnant employment and wage growth (e.g. Germany and Japan).”
“Vigorous job creation and larger trade deficits are both hallmarks of strong economic growth,” said John Murphy, vice president of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who has written critically about the EPI report. Scott Kennedy, a political scientist at Indiana University, said of the claims about China costing U.S. jobs, “China is just a scapegoat.”
Robert Scott, the senior international economist at EPI who produced the numbers, defends the study, pointing out that many factors contribute to economic growth rates, and it is possible for the same factor to drive down both the trade deficit and employment — such as the recession that ended last year in the U.S. That doesn’t mean that a trade deficit causes higher employment. Scott also notes that other studies, like his, have assumed that every dollar of a trade deficit displaces domestic production.
Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which has posted Scott’s findings in an interactive map, said the assumption about displacement of domestic manufacturing is sensible. “There is an extraordinary amount of competition between U.S. production and Chinese production,” Paul said. “A lot of people like to assume that China is making things we don’t make here. That may be true in some areas, but it is not in others.”
Susan Houseman, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich., said that Scott’s calculations make more sense than the claim occasionally made in U.S. economic circles — and, recently, by the White House — that increased productivity has backfired on U.S. manufacturing workers. Houseman has found that much of the supposed productivity gain can be chalked up to offshoring of some processes, meaning it was an artificial gain: If production is divided by U.S. workers, but others do some of the producing, U.S. workers would seem to be gaining productivity they really aren’t.
Houseman sees indirect signs that trade deficits may be driving down employment: “Job losses in manufacturing are almost perfectly correlated with growth in import penetration,” Houseman said. “It’s really very striking.”
Ray Fair, an economist at Yale University, prefers using his multicountry econometric model to estimate the potential effect of China’s allowing its currency to appreciate — which, he found earlier this year, would be negligible in terms of U.S. employment. “This is a complicated question, where one needs a complete multicountry model to analyze,” Fair said. He added, of his model, “It’s been extensively tested.” Of his finding, Fair added, “The trade deficit is ‘affected by many things, and it is not sensible to relate, say, the U.S. deficit with China to U.S. employment,’ Fair said.
Paul Krugman, an economist at Princeton University and columnist for the New York Times, wrote on his Times blog last year that his back-of-the-envelope calculation concludes China’s “artificial” trade surplus is costing 1.4 million jobs in the U.S. “If China were to end or reduce that artificial trade surplus, the extra demand would find its way to the advanced countries through a variety of channels, most of them not captured by the Fair model,” Krugman wrote in a statement provided by a New York Times spokeswoman.
Scott and Krugman criticize the assumptions Fair fed into his model. “In my view, there is no evidence that the effects of renminbi revaluation on prices, wealth, real wages or interest rates [in the U.S.] will be significant,” Scott said.
Krugman added, “When I looked at Ray Fair’s estimates, my conclusion was that he was running an exercise that didn’t at all correspond to the current situation.” For instance, Krugman points out that the Fed is running up against the so-called zero lower bound that may keep it from raising interest rates in response to a Chinese currency revaluation.
One thing all three of these methods have in common is that they all seek to describe the relationship between trade and jobs rigorously, with some kind of model or formula. This improves on other efforts that are based on extrapolating from individual cases of companies closing factories and moving their operations offshore, said Catherine L. Mann, an economist at Brandeis University’s business school. She credited the EPI estimate for its “transparent methodology,” but she said it is “one where the underpinning assumptions are not valid.”
EPI’s Scott “made a heroic effort given the enormous data holes” in U.S. statistics about trade, such as which industries imports are being used in, and the price of imports per unit, said Michael Mandel, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, a moderate Democratic think tank. “I can’t criticize him for the effort he made. He’s answering questions people want to answer.”
Alan Tonelson, a research fellow at the U.S. Business and Industry Council, an advocacy group for small businesses, said more government-collected data would help shed light on trade’s impact on jobs. “I’d like every multinational company to report, what do they export, what do they import — and what do they source in the U.S., what do they source overseas,” said Tonelson, who wrote about the trade deficit in a New York Times op-ed last month.
Further reading: The conservative Cato Institute and American Enterprise Institute also have criticized the EPI report. The Congressional Research Service analyzed the economic impact of China’s currency intervention in a report earlier this month.
Baidu Looks To Hire US Software Engineers In China
July 2nd, 2010HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Chinese search engine company Baidu Inc. (BIDU) said Wednesday it is looking to hire 30 software engineers from the U.S. next month to help make the company more innovative as it seeks to take advantage of rival Google Inc.'s (GOOG) shrinking participation in China.
Baidu is set to gain market share in China from Google as the Chinese government objects to Google's recent strategy of redirecting Chinese users to an uncensored site in Hong Kong and threatened the U.S. company with the loss of its license.
Kaiser Kuo, a company spokesman, said Baidu, China's biggest search engine, will hold a job fair in Milpitas, Calif., and is aiming to hire mid-level to senior engineers.
"Baidu believes that talent is the key to our success as a company, and we go wherever the best talent can be found, whether here in China or in Silicon Valley," said Zheng Bin, human resources director at Baidu, in a statement.
Baidu's hiring in the U.S. market underscores the need for more experienced engineers in China. Analysts say having insufficient number of engineers means companies will fall behind other rivals as competition intensifies in the Internet space.
"It's good to see Baidu taking initiatives to expand its talent pool and speed up the company's technology development. New technology is vital for its long-term growth," said Elinor Leung, an analyst at CLSA.
Baidu currently employs about 2,500 engineers. It has research and development centers in Beijing and Shanghai.
According to figures from Analysys International, Google's market share in China declined to 31% in the first quarter of this year from 35.6% in the previous quarter, with Baidu benefiting at Google's expense.
Baidu reported in February its fourth-quarter earnings rose 48% to CNY427.9 million on a 40% increase in revenue to CNY1.26 billion.
GE Chief's Remarks Show Growing Irritation With China
July 2nd, 2010General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said it is getting harder for foreign companies to do business in China, and that the Obama administration hasn't done as much as its predecessors to develop ties to the business community, people who heard his comments said Thursday.
His remarks, made Wednesday night at a private dinner in Rome for Italian business leaders, GE executives and others, echoed concerns Mr. Immelt has expressed before about barriers to U.S. exports and links between business and government.
But his words appeared to show a growing irritation with China, which Mr. Immelt said is increasingly developing its own technology that competes with U.S. exports, according to a person who heard him speak. "Immelt expressed anger at China, because it's trying to suck technology away," this person said.
GE said Mr. Immelt was in transit, and not available for comment.
The company, however, said its approach to China hasn't changed. "There is no change to our strategy for or in China, which as Jeff has said many times is an important and attractive market for GE," said Anne Eisele, a spokeswoman for the Fairfield, Conn.-based conglomerate.
GE, a sponsor of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, has pinned much of its hopes for growth on Chinese markets. GE has 13,000 employees in China and has cut deals there to share technology in the areas of aviation, reducing pollution from coal, and rail locomotives.
China Real Time.
Around the time GE opened a new technology center in Shanghai in August of 2008, Mr. Immelt said GE expected to double its business in China to $10 billion by 2010. But the company appears behind schedule in reaching that target, with China revenue of about $5.3 billion in 2009, up from $4.7 billion in 2008.
Shifting to relations with governments, Mr. Immelt said Wednesday night that the Obama administration has been distracted by the economic crisis and its legislative priorities from developing the ties with business seen under the Bush and Clinton administrations.
The White House declined to comment.
Mr. Immelt enjoyed a warm relationship with President Barack Obama after the 2008 election, and was named to the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, a bipartisan panel of industrial, finance and union leaders. Mr. Immelt was a leading corporate supporter of the $787 billion federal stimulus bill, praising it in op-ed pieces and speeches.
In recent months, though, Mr. Immelt has said the administration needs to do more to help U.S. manufacturers sell their goods in foreign markets. Speaking in May at the 92nd Street Y in New York, he said he felt outgunned in terms of political support when bidding against French and South Korean companies for a nuclear-reactor contract in Dubai. That $20 billion contract was ultimately won by a Korean consortium
Mr. Immelt's remarks from the Rome gathering were reported earlier by the Financial Times.
One attendee said the chief executive "used the word 'concern' a lot," indicating challenges as companies try to put the recession behind them. "His speech was gloomy," this person said. "He seemed worried about business conditions across the board. And at the same time, he was using those observations to highlight that GE was doing well in spite of the difficulties."
Mr. Immelt said GE's second-quarter results won't be bad. The company reported in April that its first-quarter profit fell 31% from a year earlier to $1.95 billion on revenue of $36.6 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect GE to report $38.7 billion in revenue for the second quarter.
By JENNIFER CLARK And PAUL GLADER
Bay Area: China's gateway to U.S
May 27th, 2010With 30 years of sister city relations, a highly educated work force and international business facilities, San Francisco is an important gateway for Chinese companies expanding into North America.
The close economic and cultural ties between the cities provide a unique business platform, and many Chinese companies have chosen to set up operations in the Bay Area in the past few years.
Moreover, because more than 25 percent of the city's population is of Chinese ancestry, there is no other place in North America where Chinese businessmen and businesswomen will feel more comfortable and welcome, according to ChinaSF - a joint public and private initiative that helps companies set up or invest between China and San Francisco.
The area is an international hub for pioneering and forward-thinking industries such as life sciences and health care, information technology and digital media, clean technology, financial and professional services, iPDR (integrated production, distribution and repair), retail and hospitality, international commerce and film.
"Among these, solar-tech manufacturing and biotech are two sectors with substantial growth prospects in both the Chinese and American markets," says Ginny Fang, director of ChinaSF.
ChinaSF is under the San Francisco Center for Economic Development and operates in close partnership with the city of San Francisco. It is funded entirely by its private sector partners and has offices in San Francisco and Shanghai. Their Shanghai office helps San Francisco businesses navigate China's unique business culture and climate, including support for appropriate Chinese government relations and protocol.
Since its official opening in November 2008, ChinaSF has had the notable success of attracting five of China's top solar companies to San Francisco, making the city the North American capital for the Chinese solar industry. By the end of 2009 it had attracted 10 Chinese companies to San Francisco, including Shanghai life sciences consulting firm SPRIM, which has chosen to base its international headquarters in San Francisco.
SPRIM has offices in 15 cities worldwide and employs over 400 staff.
Other companies of note with a presence in San Francisco include Suntech America based in Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, the world's third-largest solar cell maker; and Yingli Green Energy headquartered in Baoding in Hebei Province, one of the world's leading photovoltaic product manufacturers.
Factors that attract Chinese companies to San Francisco include innovation, intellectual capital and "the world's best employees because of its unparalleled quality of life," says Fang.
The City of San Francisco acts through its Office of Economic and Workforce Development to support the ongoing economic vitality of San Francisco with incentives such as help navigating city government, access to tax credits and other funding, employee recruitment and training, and site location.
The Shanghai-San Francisco sister city relationship has benefited both cities economically because of the involvement of all three main sectors of society including government, business and citizens, says Fang. "Exchanges take place in virtually all areas of the community - sports, art, culture, education, government and business - all of which have contributed to increased foreign direct investment, business partnerships and cross-cultural dialogue."
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
Hotel Industry Staff Competition in China.
March 24th, 2010By René J.M. Schillings
This feature is not about the annual football match between the chef team and the engineers, nor which server sold the most Wine of the Month, this is about fierce competition among hotels to attract the best people.
In a market economy competition must exist. Walk the busy shopping streets of urban China and vendors will try to attract your attention. Hotels, Resorts, Serviced Residences, Restaurants & Bars will compete for business. It is about market share, sales & marketing strategies, and keeping happy customers coming back. In China the number of hotel beds is growing faster than anywhere in the world.
And in every random city new hotels open from a base of 2-5 international hotels up to 5 years ago to 10 hotels today and more to open in the next 5 years. Major cities like Shanghai and Beijing already feel the pinch of overcapacity in post-Olympic (and soon post-Expo) times.
Hotel owners, management companies and analysts crack their brains on how to achieve market share, and get the favor of the consumer who has more to chose from and can shop around. But this fast growth does not only put the Occupancy Rates and Average Rates under pressure. What few hotels realize yet is that they are also competing against each other for the best talents in a limited pool.
Whereas hotels are often built with a 20-30 year plan and expected growing market & needs it is doubtful if in the next 20 years the pool of available employees choosing hospitality will grow too, in China
The days that young hoteliers would join a certain hotel, or group and make their career all the way up with the same hotel, same group are long gone. Today a job with a hotel is good for the next 1-2 years and people see where the next opportunity lies (and in Beijing, Shanghai even faster).
Hoteliers are traditionally mobile, the world is their oyster, and the home is where good jobs are. This also applies to hotels in China anno 2010. Within China the term ‘local expatriates’ who work in any region of China other than their home town is commonly understood. Although hotel companies may promise future transfers to other locations, or gradual promotion it is not surprising that many hoteliers in China can not resist a good offer in another city, or a promotion when joining another brand.
The only way is up is the mood in China for the last 25 years, so why would hoteliers patiently wait for their promotion or do their hardship years in less favorable locations when hotels in more attractive locations are hungry to have them.
It was perhaps good practice for hotels when they open in a certain location to first look at the hotels present for potential recruits. Due to fast expansion of most hotel groups in China the transfer of staff from existing hotels to new openings is limited as existing hotels already struggle to find and keep their talents.
In addition, the expansion is often in the secondary cities where the primary cities do not necessarily want to go, or only for a short period of time. In mature markets, cities like Hong Kong where only 1 or 2 new major hotels open per year it’s quite normal for an F&B Director to slip his business card to a good waitress and ask her to give him a call. An Assistant HOD may be experienced enough to join another, smaller hotel as HOD. When there is a local HR Director who worked for an existing hotel for 10 years get’s pinched by a new hotel opening, the position maybe taken over by the # 2, Assistant HR, who was perhaps also 4-6 years there.
But where will the next opening hotel recruit from? In locations where 10 hotels opened in less than half a decade and still another 10 in the ground this is not only ‘not done’ it also leads to a guerilla warfare for staff. New opening hotels can only apply the trick of scouting the competitor’s staff a few times till they fall victim themselves to the very next new hotel. China has a history of hotel development of less than 30 years with the base of the earliest hotels, where future managers were groomed, only 10% of what is there today.
Up to 10 years ago there were practically no hotel & catering management schools in China as such. Chinese hoteliers started to go overseas to study hotel management about 15 years ago. However the drop out rate of these graduates who do not continue their career in hospitality after graduation is worrying. The graduates of today, who are the managers of the future may deliver only 5-10% of hospitality management graduates today, still working in the industry 20 years from now.
Offering more salary, and offering a higher position is also something that would work out fine in mature markets. In a competitive market pricing is key, a hotel has to offer a salary that is market conform and in China today the market rate for salaries are not determined by regional levels of income but what nationwide is paid for the best. Hotels on Hainan Island need to compete with salaries in Shanghai, Beijing. They may attract staff from less prosperous regions, but will loose them to the higher paying regions.
Secondary cities need not pay the salaries paid in Shanghai and Beijing, but whether you are Shenyang, Chongqing, Jinan or Tianjin, the past 5-10 years salaries locally are no longer competitive when you need to attract managers from all over the country. Title inflation became rampant in China, attracting management with higher titles they had to wait for a few more years in a normal situation. But higher title and higher salary can only keep those fresh recruits only as long as nobody outdoes you. It’s an outright war with ever new tactics.
The more visionary hotel companies have already understood that many other benefits like modern and good staff facilities such as dormitories, staff canteens, and secondary benefits are the new tactics in this war. But when one hotel sets a new trend, the copy-cats will follow soon. The simple promise of promotion or transfer is a carrot everybody is dangling.
Good and intelligent staff recruitment goes from top to bottom. When management is unstable, unqualified, or has high turnover, rank and file will walk too. When rank & file is just fresh out of school, untrained, and keen to leave when better opportunities arise, managers may soon walk too, feeling that they can not achieve the objectives set when they have no staff.
The urgency to fill crucial positions, especially at pre-opening projects may often lead to poor recruitment, which leads to high turnover, which leads to poor reputation as an employer. Sitting on prospective candidates for a position too long and not keeping them in loop of the process, delayed interviews etc. may make a hotel loose the best available talents to other hotels who were simply faster or a bit further in the recruitment process.
Recruiting management and rank & file for new hotel openings can sometimes be hit & miss. Joining an existing hotel with a track record of business volume and where managers moved on thereafter is much more attractive for hoteliers than joining a hotel that isn’t open yet.
A hotel’s reputation as a good employer or where people come and go is as crucial for attracting talents and keeping them as is your guest satisfaction index and Tripadvisor rating are for attracting guests and keeping them.
China Overtakes Germany as World's Biggest Exporter
January 11th, 2010Chinese officials say the country's exports surged in December to edge out Germany as the world's biggest exporter.
The official Xinhua news agency reported Sunday that figures from the General Administration for Customs showed that exports jumped 17.7 percent in December from a year earlier.
Huang Guohua, a statistics official with the customs administration, said the December exports rebound was an important turning point for China's export sector.
Huang added that the jump was an indication that exporters have emerged from their downslide.
However, although China overtook Germany in exports, China's total foreign trade -- both exports and imports -- fell 13.9 percent in 2009.
40% in poll interested in financial industry jobs
December 28th, 2009TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Nearly 40 percent of people in a new poll conducted by 1111 Jobs Bank expressed an interest in working in the financial industry, due to higher pay and better prospects for the industry in the wake of the signing of a cross-strait financial memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The jobs bank released its survey in a news conference yesterday.
The poll found nearly 40 percent of respondents thinking about entering the financial industry. Their top three reasons were: having an expertise in the area, having an interest in the area and good pay.
By market segment, over 50 percent wanted to work in banks, while 17 percent wanted to work in securities or futures trading.
At the same time, 43.59 percent wanted to work with foreign firms, 37.18 percent wanted to work with local firms, and 9.83 percent wanted to work with state-run businesses.
Some 64 percent of respondents said their interest in the financial industry increased because of the MOU, which was signed in November and will take effect in January next year. The MOU will allow Taiwan and Chinese financial operators to invest in each other's market.
Eighty-five percent of respondents said they would like to work in China as a result of the MOU.
The top three reasons for their interest in doing so were: more challenging work, prospects for good earnings for mainland Chinese firms operating in Taiwan and a more international environment.
The top three reasons for a non-interest in working in China were: unwillingness to go to China, unwillingness to work with the Chinese people and the ever-changing nature of China's work environment.
The survey was conducted by 1111 Jobs Bank from Dec. 2 to 15 on salary workers. A total of 1,239 eligible surveys were returned. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 2.41 percent.
Employment in 2009 tops expectations
December 23rd, 2009An expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has said that the employment situation in 2009 is better than expected. The director of the Academy's Sociology Institute, Li Peilin, said on Monday that although China experienced its worst unemployment in three years this year, the situation has been better than expected.
Most rural migrant workers who lost their jobs during the financial crisis in 2008 have already returned to the cities and found new jobs. Meanwhile, more than 6 million college graduates have found jobs this year.
Figures from the Ministry of Education show that the employment rate for new graduates was 74 percent in July and August.
Creating more jobs for recent graduates
December 22nd, 2009Employment has been a huge challenge for China in 2009, after a record 6.1 million recent college graduates entered the job market. With the new year fast approaching, the country plans to continue the priority of finding them employment.
Although most graduates have secured jobs in urban areas, fierce competition and limited experience, has left many with low salaries and unpromising career prospects. The Ministry of Education says a record 6.3 million university students will graduate in 2010, creating more pressures on urban employment. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Securities plans to adjust the employment structure, by implementing policies to encourage graduates to work in less-developed regions in the mid-west, rural areas and in small and medium-sized enterprises.
China's efforts to create more jobs pay off: minister
December 21st, 2009China's proactive employment policies and measures in the wake of the financial crisis have generated positive results, Yin Weimin, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, said on Saturday.
China is expected to create over 11 million jobs in 2009, well above the target set in March this year, Yin said.
In a most important measure taken since the beginning of this year, millions of enterprises nationwide had been allowed to delay the payment of enterprise-contributed social security funds for up to six months, said Yin.
China's social security system is made up of five parts -- pension insurance, medical insurance, work injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance.
The measure also temporarily lowered the insurance rates for medical, work injury, unemployment and maternity. In the meantime, the government offered subsidies over the payment of social security funds for enterprises which were in financial difficulties.
Yin told Xinhua that this measure alone had eased corporate burden by nearly 33.9 billion yuan ($5 billion) in the first 10 months this year and more than 1.6 million enterprises had benefited from this measure.
According to Yin, China had generated 10.13 million new jobs in urban areas in the first eleven months, exceeding the government's target of 9 million new jobs for the entire year.
The urban unemployment rate would likely stand at 4.3 percent by the end of this year, which also met the target of below 4.6 percent set in March, he said.
In 2008, China's urban unemployment rate was 4.2 percent.
Beijing on global hunt for forex reserves managers
December 18th, 2009BEIJING, CHINA: China has kicked off its first global hiring campaign for money managers to help invest its US$2.3 trillion (S$3.2 trillion) of foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest stockpile, an official said.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) is seeking to improve returns on its bulging reserves and it recognises that the tumult in global financial markets has left many bankers looking for new jobs, a Safe official told Reuters.
'It is time for us to hunt talent from overseas financial markets, as the post-crisis economic outlook becomes clear to financial professionals and their institutions,' said the official, who declined to be named.
The administration posted job advertisements on its website in October for positions ranging from portfolio managers to research staff, though the hiring campaign has remained low-key so far. The official declined to say how many foreigners Safe hopes to bring on board.
Analysts said the global hiring campaign was part of the agency's drive to diversify China's currency reserves, a long-standing official goal. 'With our foreign exchange reserves growing, the team of staff that manages the reserve assets should also be strengthened,' said Professor Ding Zhijie at the University of International Business and Economics.
China Investment Corp, the country's US$300 billion sovereign wealth fund, has staged two rounds of global hiring since its inception in 2007.
Safe employs about 200 reserve managers, 80 per cent of whom hold master's degrees or higher and 40 per cent of whom hold internationally recognised professional certificates.
Simply Hired launches Web site for China
December 16th, 2009Job search engine Simply Hired said it launched a localized destination Web site for China.
Mountain View-based Simply Hired said its expansion broadens its Asia presence and joins localized job Web sites in 16 other countries across five continents and in nine languages.
Through its partnership with Mountain View-based LinkedIn, Simply Hired China will also allow job seekers to find connections they have within companies.
“Hiring managers are starting to find it difficult to fill open positions in China because the demand for workers rose more than 14 percent in the third quarter from 2008," the company said.
Shanghai to recruit overseas financial talents
December 15th, 2009A delegation of financial organizations in Shanghai started a global recruiting tour Friday afternoon, hoping to fill 115 vacancies by the end of the trip.
The 17 organizations will hold three job fairs overseas, or in New York on Dec. 5, Toronto on Dec. 9 and Singapore on Dec. 13, to recruit high level financial talents.
A similar move last year brought 66 financial talents to the city, of whom five are enlisted in a national program on hiring overseas specialists and each enjoys 1 million yuan (146,400 U.S. dollars) in subsidies from the central government.
Ji Wenguan, head of Shanghai Financial Work Commission, told Xinhua that the Shanghai municipal government was planning to provide support of housing, insurance and education for the talents.
Tax cuts would also be provided for them, said Fang Xing, director of Shanghai Finance Office.
Fang said "Talents and innovation are prerequisite to building Shanghai into an international financial center."
"It is a golden opportunity to do creative work here, work that can really make a difference, as the financial sector is developing rapidly in China," said Hua Lei, who was recruited last year and is now supervisor of high-end wealth management at Orient Securities.
In addition, the education and medical care level in Shanghai was as good as anywhere else in the world, Hua said.
"Our payment package is competitive and flexible in the global market," said Yang Qingzhong, human resource manager of Haitong Securities Co., Ltd.
Yang said his company was very satisfied with the performance of the high level talents recruited last year and was offering seven more important posts this time, including manager of assets management division.
Bank of Communications, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Haitong Securities Co., Ltd and other big names in the Chinese financial sector are among the 17 recruiting organizations.
Number of Macao's manufacturing employees down 4.4% in Q3
December 14th, 2009MACAO, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 16,321 persons were employed in Macao's manufacturing sector at the end of the third quarter of 2009, dropping significantly by 31.8 percent year-on-year, according to the figures released on Thursday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The average earnings of full time employees in the manufacturing sector rose by 4.8 percent year-on-year to 5,630 patacas (713 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter this year, the DSEC figures indicated.
As for the hotels and restaurants sector, there were a total of47,345 paid employees in the period, dropping by 4.4 percent over last year, and the average earnings also decreased by 1.4 percent to 9,960 patacas (1,261 dollars).
Meanwhile, the local financial sector employed 5,475 persons in the third quarter, dropping by three percent year-on-year, with 4,640 working in local banks. The average earnings for full-time employees in the period rose marginally by 0.1 percent year-on-year to 17,470 patacas (2,211 U.S. dollars).
At the end of September this year, the Manufacturing, Hotels and restaurants and Financial sectors reported 1,534, 3,790 and 163 vacancies respectively, down 15.8 percent, 5.7 percent and 8.9percent year-on-year, according to the DSEC.?
PE firms add more jobs than listed peers
December 11th, 2009Private equity (PE) backed companies were more profitable and successful in creating jobs than their publicly listed peers in China over the past seven years, according to a survey conducted by Bain & Company and the European Union Chamber of Commerce.
The survey compared the performance of 100 companies that received at least $20 million PE funding, excluding real estate and bank investments, with 2,424 publicly listed Chinese companies between 2002 and 2008.
PE firms recorded nearly 100 percent growth in jobs and 56 percent in profits over their bigger peers during the period.
More importantly PE firms have fostered inland province development, boosted domestic consumption, transferred management know-how to businesses under their portfolios and greatly improved corporate governance, the survey said.
"Although private equity is a relatively new phenomenon in China, it is fast gaining ground and scoring over others," said Michael Thorneman, managing partner, Bain & Company Greater China.
The biggest contribution of private equity has been the creation of better-run companies. Companies with PE shareholders posted annual revenue growth of 25 percent and an average earnings growth of 39 percent, up 3 percentage points and 12 percentage points over the benchmark companies.
The survey also shows that PE investors are showing keen interest in China's consumer goods and retail industry. While PE investment in China as a whole increased by 58 percent since 2002, investment in the consumer goods and retail industries grew by 77 percent.
PE investments in consumer and retail businesses now rival those in traditionally strong sectors like IT and media.
Retailers backed by PE investors reported sales growth of 47 percent compared with 16 percent for publicly listed retail companies. Consumer goods companies backed by PE investors showed sales growth of 30 percent against 18 percent for listed peers.
"Over 50 percent of the PE firms that participated in the survey felt that consumer products and retail sectors are the most promising sectors, but also felt that the sector would become more competitive in the future," said Thorneman.
Total employment at private equity-financed firms increased by 16 percent over the survey period compared with 8 percent at publicly listed companies. PE-backed firms also pay significantly higher wages. The gross salary growth rates at PE-backed companies outperformed those of the listed companies by 7 percentage points.
Private equity has also been a strong contributor to the government's "Go West" policies. The survey found that 42 percent of the investment was directed to companies headquartered in inland provinces.
"China has emerged as one of the leading destinations for PE capital, and PE capital has a more positive image in China than in other western countries," said Andre Loesekrug-Pietri, chairman of the European Chamber's PE working group.
China recruiting foreign workers
December 10th, 2009For those with a financial background who are looking for an opportunity to work overseas, China may be the place to go.
Reuters cites a Chinese government official saying that China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) began its first global recruitment search for money managers to aid in the investment of the country’s $2.3 trillion of foreign exchange reserves.
A SAFE official told Reuters that the government would like to increase its return on the reserves and wants to tap into the global resources of bankers who may be looking for a job.
The official, who could not be named because he was not authorized to talk to the media, told the news source, "It is time for us to hunt talent from overseas financial markets, as the post-crisis economic outlook becomes clear to financial professionals and their institutions."
According to the SAFE website, there are a range of positions open such as, portfolio managers, operations and legal consultants and research staff. Applicants should have a working knowledge of both Chinese and English as well as at least two years of work experience at a well known financial institution.
The government official interviewed by the Reuters declined to say how many foreign workers SAFE was looking to hire.
According to oDesk research, China is a popular country for providers on its site. There are currently 947 providers from China who charge an average hourly rate of $18.27 for their services.
Survey indicates better job prospect
December 9th, 2009Wu Liwei, a postgraduate major in journalism from Renmin University of China, has been trying to find a job for some time. And though the 24-year-old is yet to get a satisfactory offer, Wu said yesterday that she still felt lucky and hopeful.
"Next year looks better than even this year," Wu said. "A friend who majored in the same subject last year said many big companies had stopped recruiting then."
But this year, staff from a lot more companies, including big names, visited her university for campus recruitment. "I have attended about 10 such recruitment fairs, and many of my classmates have got offers. I am waiting for the right one," she said.
Most university graduates like Wu feel the same. And it's true that China's recruitment prospects are better now than last year or early this year.
Buoyed up by the ongoing economic recovery and domestic consumption, the willingness of potential employers to hire people in 2010 will be stronger than this year, with companies in second-tier cities showing greater interest, a Manpower survey released yesterday said.
According to the survey, conducted by the world's leading employment service provider, 19 percent of the potential employers said they would hire people in the first quarter of next year - 2 percentage points higher than in the fourth quarter of 2008, and also the highest since late last year.
Those who aim to cease recruitment in the next quarter add up to only 5 percent of the total, 1 percentage point lower than in the previous quarter and the lowest in a year.
Manpower has done such quarterly recruitment studies in China for five years. This time, it interviewed 4,317 enterprises from home and abroad for the survey.
"Actually, the recovery helped improve China's labor market from the second quarter of this year," said Danny Yuan, managing director for Manpower China. "Now, employers are more confident of hiring people next year,"
Xu Zhixue, senior consultant with Beijing-based Zuoyou Consulting Group, a leading local human resource service provider, corroborated Yuan.
Zuoyou's clients are usually big State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in telecom, aerospace and mining sectors, such as Beijing Mobile. "They (SOEs) were worried over the economic trend and most of them had scaled back their recruitment," Xu said.
"But since the last quarter, they have recovered their confidence. Now, we are much busier than before," he said.
China's economy began showing strong signals of recovery in the third quarter of this year, with GDP growth reaching 8.9 percent. Decline in exports began easing off, too, and the sector is expected to have taken to the growth trajectory in late 2009.
According to Manpower, employers in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors could be the biggest recruiters next year, with the mining and construction industries registering the fastest growth in the past quarter.
The survey also shows employers in cities like Chongqing, Xi'an, Qingdao, Wuhan, and Suzhou expect to see a stronger hiring environment than their counterparts in major cities.
Bonus payout continues amid financial woes
December 7th, 2009With Christmas spending just around the corner and memories of frozen annual bonuses lingering from last year, many companies in Beijing are calming employee concerns with news they will come through with cash regardless of economic woes.
"Though some companies said they won't pay out a bonus in 2009, the majority said they would pay no matter what the impact on the business was," said Tommy Li, a senior consultant at Mercer, one of the largest international HR consulting firms operating in China.
Li, who was the product manager for the China Monitor Report, a quarterly survey containing the most updated HR trends in China, said most companies froze or postponed yearly bonuses in 2008 due to the dire global financial situation.
The China Monitor Report, which surveyed over 290 companies, found that more than 69 percent confirmed they would pay yearly bonuses this year despite the global financial crisis. Only 4 percent of companies said they would not.
In addition to the return of year-end bonuses, the China Monitor index found that jobs are on the rise. In the fourth quarter of 2009, over 78 percent of business said they had plans to hire new employees and less than 10 percent said they would downsize.
One sales director of a Beijing-based metals business said that he fears his company will lose employees in the reviving employment market. With the exception of last year, he said he has noticed a trend of employees leaving his company after receiving their yearly bonuses.
"There's a joke in my office about it. Every year, out of the 15 people that report to me, I lose anywhere from three to five," he told METRO, requesting that he not be named.
He said employees feel less incentive to stick around after receiving the year-end payout.
Though the company gave out bonuses last year, much to his surprise, he said his salary had been frozen. "This year, with companies starting to hire again, I expect to see a lot of movement. Most people stayed at their jobs last year, grateful just to have a paycheck, but with confidence restored and hiring resuming, I think this year will be different," he said.
The Accor hotel group on the other hand is taking a different approach to distributing end of the year bonuses.
"The bonuses of our salaried employees engaged in the corporate office are assessed against several criteria - including the performance of the company," said Robert Murray, Senior Vice President of Greater China for the ACCOR Hotel group.
Murray, who has been working with Accor, a foreign public company listed in France, for more than five years has seen shifts in the market. He said Accor's system allows employees to share in both the good times and the more "challenging times", such as the 2009 economic crisis.
"Although it is yet to be determined, it is fair to say that bonuses for this year will be examined in line with results," Murray said.
He added that employees at the hotels, outside of the corporate office, are usually given bonuses based on individual successes of their hotel.
"There will be mixed outcomes of bonus payments to these employees," he said.
Venture capitalists funding more bio-pharmaceutical projects
December 4th, 2009Spurred by the healthcare reform launched by the central government, healthcare has now become the hot destination for domestic and foreign venture capital (VC).
The buzz has been the most active in the bio-pharmaceutical sector which has raised funds to the tune of nearly $130 million in the first half of the year.
The sector accounted for 20 percent of the investment deals signed in China during the same period, according to a report by Zero2IPO, a leading domestic service provider for the venture capital and private equity industry.
"The ratio is pretty high. The passion (for bio-pharmaceuticals) has been ignited by the predictable growth potential in China's healthcare industry and the growing demand for biopharmaceuticals," said Zheng Yufen, senior manager for healthcare at the investment banking division of Zero2IPO.
"Talks are also on for a slew of other investment deals in the bio-pharmaceutical sector and hopefully they would be sewn up by the end of the year," she said.
"The bio-pharmaceutical segment often sees mega deals and would continue to catch the fancy of venture capitalists for some time to come."
In January, Kerry Bio-Science, a Zhejiang-based life science research pharmaceutical company, raised its second round of funding worth $13 million from KPCB China and some institutional investors. Kerry Bio-Science will use the funds to set up a new development and research center and expand its output capacity.
The Kerry Bio-Science deal sparked a flurry of investment in the bio-pharmaceuticals sector. Macrostat, a clinical research data provider on bio-pharmaceuticals, got investment, with no details available, from Tigermed Consulting and Qiming Venture Partners. In May, KPCB China made its second investment this year, in Nanjing-based Genscript Corporation, a leading bio-pharmaceutical research outsourcing company, at a price of $15 million, the largest this year.
According to Xiao Jun, executive vice-president of Genscript, the company got funding due to its "inherent strength in biotechnology research and its comprehensive service system".
"GenScript needs capital and mature management experience to help fulfill the goal of becoming a leading contract research outsourcing company," Xiao said.
Bio-pharmaceutical companies are those producing drugs using bio-technology. In early 2000, investors began to show interest in the sector, but the investment was not sizable given the limited scope of the medical market then.
"After China unveiled its healthcare reform, a huge potential for these products was unleashed," said Zheng.
Over the next few years, China's bio-pharmaceutical sector will continue to grow by 12 to 15 percent annually, and by 2010, the market will reach $100 billion.
With its strong talent pool, China is in a much better position to attract investment by international medical companies for R&D centers. In November, drug major Merck Serono and IBSA, a Switzerland-based bio-pharmaceutical company, announced plans to set up R&D centers in China.
Maurizio Dattilo, director of Strategic Marketing of IBSA, said: "China has a very strong scientific research team and employees to work for the R&D center."
This year, venture capital firms like International Data Group and SAIF are bolstering their teams and hiring more employees from hospitals and domestic bio-pharmaceutical companies.
"Both the companies are in negotiations for deals of over $10 million," said Zheng.
TCL joint venture headhunting talent from Taiwan panel industry, sources say
December 1st, 2009The joint venture (JV) of China-based LCD TV vendor TCL and Century Science & Technology Investment Corporation is headhunting talent from Taiwan's panel industry, according to sources in Taiwan.
TCL is recruiting people from panel makers including AU Optronics (AUO), Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), the sources said.
Employees of Taiwan's panel companies may be more motivated to defect to China competitors now that the local LCD industry is consolidating. Innolux Display is merging with CMO and TPO Displays, leaving minor players, such as CPT, in a more difficult position, the sources from Taiwan's panel industry commented.
The China government plans to attract LCD panel makers to set up production plants in the country by providing subsidies, the sources claimed. Panel makers will only need to shoulder 10-15% of the total investment, while the government will cover about 30-40%, with the rest coming from outside investors, the sources added.