Recruiting in China

With the potential to make a lot of money as a developer, especially since it is pretty easy these days to create your own app for mobile devices, we’re sure that there are many kids out there whose dream is to one day become a developer of software and games. However in China it is a different story as developers are typically referred to as “Ma Nong”, or number crunchers if you’d rather, since their job involves very long hours and apparently very little pay. Interestingly it seems that over in China, one developer has had enough of the long hours and bad pay, and when he quit his job, he decided at the urging of his girlfriend to start selling street food known as “shaobing”, a type of flatbread.

While it was a means to an end, it turned out that his endeavor proved to be more profitable than he had imagined and according to a report on Tencent, the developer (or ex-developer) now pulls in about $3,259 a month, which is reportedly double that of what he used to make as a developer! Of course $3,259 might not seem like a lot of money stateside, but over in China it is a pretty big deal. This by no means reflects the type of pay that all developers receive, since some employers can be fair while others can be quite stingy, it is an interesting twist on things.

GlaxoSmithKline has admitted that some of its senior Chinese executives broke the law in a £320m cash and sexual favours bribery scandal.

Abbas Hussain, the drug maker's head of emerging markets who was dispatched to Shanghai to oversee the crisis, apologised to the Chinese authorities and promised the company was taking the charges "extremely seriously".

"Certain senior executives of GSK China who know our systems well appear to have acted outside of our processes and controls which breaches Chinese law," Hussain, the brother of England cricketer Nasser Hussain, said on Monday. "We have zero tolerance for any behaviour of this nature."

Hussain's apology and admission comes a month after Britain's biggest drug company said a four-month internal investigation had found "no evidence of corruption or bribery in our China business".

The Chinese public security ministry welcomed Hussain's apology and issued a fresh statement saying GSK's executives "violated China's laws and damaged markets by engaging in bribery to raise drug prices, expand sales and reap inappropriate profits".

Andrew Witty, GSK's chief executive, who was paid £3.9m last year, will repeat the apology on Wednesday when the company announces its half-year results.

The Chinese authorities have arrested four senior Chinese GSK executives as part of the investigation into claims that doctors were bribed with cash and sexual favours in return for prescribing GSK's drugs.

One of the arrested executives has confessed to the allegations on Chinese state television from what appeared to be his detention cell.

GSK China's British finance director, Steve Nechelput, has been prevented from leaving the country. The leading Chinese investigator has raised questions over why Mark Reilly, the UK head of GSK's Chinese operations, left China for Britain just before the charges were announced and has not returned. GSK said Reilly is not scheduled to return to China.

Chinese police have also detained Peter Humphrey, a British private investigator who has worked with GSK in the past. Humphrey, founder and managing director of risk advisory and investigations firm ChinaWhys, was arrested in Shanghai on 10 July.

The ChinaWhys website boasts: "Combining detective skills with our understanding of business operations and financial management, we assist multinationals to prevent, detect or investigate fraud, employee corruption or other white-collar crime to protect their bottom line, reputation and regulatory integrity, as well as providing support for dispute resolution and other business crises."

GSK has a long history of problems in China, and conducts up to 20 internal audits in the country every year. Last year more than a sixth of the 312 staff it sacked worldwide for breaching policy violations were in China. China accounts for just 3% of GSK's £27bn annual sales.

A GSK spokesman said Humphrey was "never a GSK employee", but refused to say whether or not it had contracted Humphrey, who has previously worked for corporate investigations firm Kroll.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it was aware of Humphrey's arrest and said diplomats are providing consular assistance to the family.

Hussein said GSK shared the Chinese authorities' desire to "root out corruption wherever it exists" and said the company would "take all necessary actions required as this investigation progresses". GSK is also regularly briefing the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in London.

GSK also promised to radically change its business model and pass on the savings to Chinese consumers by reducing drug prices. One of the arrested GSK executives, Hong Liang, told Chinese state TV last week that bribes paid to doctors and officials pushed up the prices Chinese patients pay for GSK drugs by as much as 30%.

The Chinese investigation appears to have widened to other western pharmaceutical companies. AstraZeneca said [on Mondayits Shanghai office was raided by police and one employee was detained for questioning. Belgian drug company UCB has also been visited by the police.

GSK last year paid a $3bn (£1.9bn) fine in the US to settle claims that it tricked and bribed doctors into prescribing dangerous antidepressants to children.

Hong Kong (CNN) -- An investigation by Chinese authorities into the activities of GlaxoSmithKline has allegedly turned up a bribery network that involves government officials, doctors, hospitals and at least 700 travel agencies.

The U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest vaccine makers, is now attempting to distance itself from its China arm -- which has been accused of using hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to encourage the use of GSK products and artificially boost prices.

As Chinese authorities and GlaxoSmithKline reveal new information, here is an overview of the probe, the parties involved and the potential penalties.

What is GlaxoSmithKline?

Pharmaceutical giant accused of bribery GlaxoSmithKline probe could widen Pharmaceutical giant accused of bribery
GlaxoSmithKline, headquartered in London, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The firm is known for its wide range of over-the-counter and prescription medicines and vaccines including its popular anti-depressant Paxil and diabetes drug Avandia.

GSK, as the company is also known, says it employs some 97,000 people in more than 100 countries.

In the last fiscal year, GSK reported more than $11.5 billion in pre-tax profits and ranked #231 on the Fortune Global 500.

What are the accusations?

On July 11, China's national police agency accused GlaxoSmithKline of bribing government and medical officials in some of China's biggest cities -- including the country's financial hub of Shanghai and Hunan's provincial capital Changsha -- to encourage the use of GSK medicines and to push prices higher.

The bribes totaled nearly half a billion dollars, according to media reports.

On July 22, GSK executive Abbas Hussain admitted that some of the company's senior executives in China appeared to have violated the law. Hussain, the company's president of Europe, Japan, emerging markets and Asia-Pacific, had been dispatched to China to contain fallout from the alleged scandal.

On July 24, China's state media reported that 39 hospital workers were being punished for taking more than $450,000 in kickbacks from pharmaceutical firms over a three-year period.

Nine of the doctors involved had been suspended or had their licenses revoked, and a case involving a trade union official was referred to the judicial system.

Who has been caught up in the scandal?

Chinese authorities have barred GSK China's Vice President for Finance, British national Steve Nechelput, from leaving the country since late June. At least four Chinese executives have also been detained.

Chinese state media have identified these executives as Vice-President of GSK China's investment company Liang Hong, Vice-President and human resources director Zhang Guowei, GSK China's legal affairs director Zhao Hongyan and the company's business development manager Huang Hong.

Chinese state television also broadcast an apparent confession by Liang Hong. It is unclear whether his statement was made under force or duress.

Liang explained how conferences were faked in order for travel agencies to create receipts for services never performed. Funds were then used to pay off bribes encouraging the use of GSK products.

How have drug prices been affected in China?

In Liang Hong's alleged confession aired on Chinese state television, the executive explained that the bribes could have encouraged corrupt government and medical officials to raise prices 20-30%.

Liang added the cost for medication would be substantially inflated by the time it reached patients.

How important is China to GSK?

In the company's just-released second quarter earnings statement, GSK revealed net losses in Europe and Japan, with flat turnover in the United States in the first half of the year.

The only regional growth occurred in emerging markets and the Asia Pacific -- of which China is core.

As China's investigation into GSK expands, the firm's profits from the crucial emerging growth market are expected to take a hit.

"Clearly, we are likely to see some impact to our performance in China as a result of the current investigation," said GSK CEO Sir Andrew Witty, "but it is too early to quantify the extent of this."

Sine the bribery allegations first surfaced, GSK's share price has slumped 3.5% in London and 2.4% on the New York Stock Exchange.

What are the penalties if GSK is found guilty?

China's investigation could expose the company to legal action in the U.K., and possibly the United States, under laws relating to the bribery of foreign public officials.

GlaxoSmithKline says it has informed the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office about the bribery allegations but had not yet been asked to provide any further information. The agency, which investigates and prosecutes corruption cases, said last week that it could neither confirm nor deny an interest in the claims against GSK at this stage.

It seems that not only young and beautiful girls can make it into the competitive world of flight attending in China after all.

A recent move by Shanghai-based Spring Air, China’s biggest budget carrier, will give preference to hiring married women with kids, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

I think it’s good that the airline is doing this. It helps the dynamics of the crew because the older ones have more life experience, making them more mature and reliable, whereas the younger ones are more enthusiastic
These unusual conditions to hire what the airline terms ‘flight aunties’ points towards an attempt to diversify the profile of its 600-strong flight attendant workforce.

The public relations value of ‘flight aunties’ is significant, considering its departure from the airline’s controversial move earlier this year, when it dressed its flight attendants in coquettish maid uniforms.

It also goes against the greater trend amongst big Chinese state-owned carriers, which have hosted pageant-style competitions to choose new flight attendants.

Spring Air said that it is seeking college-educated females aged between 25 and 45, adding that those married with children are given top consideration. The previous age cap for new hires was 35.

Its decision follows the results of a recent survey on Weibo indicating that “72 per cent of internet users polled prefer to be served by experienced flight attendants.”

Wang Yan, a 36-year-old air hostess at Spring Air, is amongst the first batch of ‘flight aunties’ hired by Spring Air.

“I think it’s good that the airline is doing this,” she said. “It helps the dynamics of the crew because the older ones have more life experience, making them more mature and reliable, whereas the younger ones are more enthusiastic.”

The flight attending profession is considered prestigious, with thousands competing for coveted spots despite poor treatment, low pay, and gruelling conditions.

Beads of sweat roll down Yang’s face as he nervously fingers the stack of résumés in his hand. On a Sunday morning in mid-July, he and several hundred other recent college graduates—plus a smattering of anxious parents—swarm recruitment stands inside Beijing Worker’s Gymnasium at one of several mid-summer job fairs in China’s capital; the air feels hotter and muggier inside than out.

Yang, who gave only his family name, strolls quickly past white stalls for insurance companies, real estate firms, and the Beijing Auspicious Culture Communications Co. Posters outside each one describe the basic requirements for telemarketers, HR managers, and event planners, but Yang isn’t interested. He graduated from Beijing Technology and Business University this spring with a degree in international business, and still hopes to find a job with a multinational company in that field. He estimates half his peers from the Class of 2013 are still seeking employment—all well aware that China’s state media have already repeatedly dubbed this year the “hardest job-hunting season for college graduates.”

Over the past decade China’s government has pushed for rapid expansion of higher education; the country’s leaders aim to upgrade the labor force and tilt the economy away from low-wage manufacturing. This year, 6.99 million students graduated from universities in China, up 190,000 from last year. There are nearly four times as many graduates in 2013 as there were 10 years ago. But the demand for young professionals in China hasn’t risen nearly as quickly. One government study from last winter indicated that the unemployment rate among 21- to 25-year-old college graduates was 16 percent, four times the official urban unemployment rate.

This spring, China’s economy slowed to an apparent 20-year low; GDP growth in the second quarter slipped to an estimated 7.5 percent. Hiring seems to have slackened as well. The Ministry of Education surveyed 500 large Chinese firms in February about their recruitment plans. The ministry estimates that 15 percent fewer positions will be offered to new graduates this year than last, as Xinhua reported.

Ms. Cai, a wiry woman in her 50s wearing a prim green blouse and brown dress pants, also strolls around Sunday’s job fair—unbeknownst to her daughter, a recent graduate in finance. But Cai feels compelled to help, or try to help, her only child’s prospects, to the bemusement of some recruiters. She is busy collecting pamphlets at one stall when gray-haired Mr. Zhang walks by; he is a father making the rounds, with his son’s résumés in hand.

Yang, the international business major, says he is hoping for a starting monthly salary of 3,000 renminbi ($487). Another job-seeker, who studied software, said 2,500 renminbi ($405) would be OK. That figure is comparable to the average monthly wage of migrant factory workers, which the government-led All-China Federation of Trade Unions calculates as 2,290 renminbi ($372) in 2012. The low salary expectations are also indicative of how an apparent oversupply of college graduates in China has torpedoed their value in the marketplace.

Even with job fairs packed, it’s still common to hear recruiters in China complain they can’t find suitable candidates. Mr. Gao, a bespectacled recruiter for a high-end clothing distributor, stands beside a poster of the company’s founder shaking hands with President Xi Jinping. (Judging from the waistline, it appears to be a much younger Xi.) Gao is looking for sales reps and has collected dozens of résumés in a few hours, but he laments the caliber and attitude of applicants. The most essential factor in the hiring process is not the student’s major, but his or her “capacity”—or willingness to work hard and learn new skills. “China has many talented people, but it is hard to find persistent ones,” he says.

A frequent refrain among recruiters is that China’s educational system ingrains rote memorization, not problem solving, which creates better test-takers than office workers. In a 2013 survey (PDF) of American businesses operating in China, respondents told the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai that the “shortage of qualified employees” and “shortage of qualified managers” ranked as their third and fourth greatest concerns, respectively (following only worries about rising labor costs and a Chinese economic slowdown).

One booth at the Beijing job fair is advertising positions for translators and logistics managers in Africa; right now it isn’t drawing a crowd. However, Ms. Pan, a petite recruiter fanning herself with a brochure featuring a map of Africa, isn’t too worried. “Each year most of our recruits come in the late summer and fall,” she says, “after graduates get very desperate and feel they have no more options.”

A record seven million students are expected to graduate from mainland Chinese universities this year, up 2.8 per cent from last year. But with the employment market tightening and competition rising, how are they all going to find jobs?

It should be easy; Chinese students have to be the most diligent bunch of students in the world. From secondary to post-graduate school, they spend every spare minute nose-in-book, cramming for the next test, completing endless hours of homework and taking extra classes at the weekend. A little boy of a friend of mine is six years old. He’s allowed to watch 30 minutes of television a week and play with his friends for an hour. The rest of his time is spent either studying or doing extra activities, such as practising Chinese calligraphy and English, using the abacus, playing tennis and swimming. Surely all of this should lead to a well-rounded student, or could it be a question of quantity exceeding quality?

Let’s examine a few of the reasons why graduates are finding it more difficult to find work. The Chinese economy’s growth is slowing, which would tighten the job market. And often graduate recruitment is the first area to be cut. The Ministry of Education has reported that 15 per cent fewer jobs are on offer for new hires this year than in 2012, according to a survey of 500 leading firms. This causes more competition for the fewer jobs that are available.

While a decade of rapid expansion in China ’s higher education sector has brought many benefits, it has also brought unrealistic expectations from students and an economy that cannot absorb so many graduates into well-paid jobs. This is not limited to undergraduates. A recent survey of Chinese MBA students showed that, on average, they expected to increase their salary by 345 per cent after graduating!

For many graduates, the first choice would be to go into government or to state-owned enterprises; large foreign-owned multinational corporations would be next on the list. The top levels of state-owned companies reserve their places for students from elite universities or those with good connections, and many firms are under pressure to reform. Multinationals are still looking for excellent graduates, especially those with science and engineering backgrounds, but again the competition is tough.

It’s wise to choose as carefully as possible for your first job, but certainly a degree of open-mindedness is needed. Perhaps it is time for grads to forget the brand and consider joining a smaller, local company that can offer real, practical hands-on experience.

Graduates need to maximise their chances of finding work. To do that, they need to consider the following:

Have realistic expectations

In my experience in recruiting fresh grads in Shanghai , salary expectations have almost doubled in the past three years. While starting salary is important for a grad, it should be far less important than training and career development. Find something that you are good at and that you like, and the money will follow, rather than the other way round.

Think very carefully about what major you decide to study

Traditional degrees in science, maths, engineering and medicine will always be in demand, as will other vocational degrees. A business degree can be useful, but it is very important to look into what you will be studying; something that is too abstract or that doesn’t teach you real-world skills is not so interesting to a future employer.

The latest Antal Global Snapshot survey on hiring and firing trends revealed that companies were significantly growing their headcounts in China. In fact, a high majority of companies in the automotive, retail and luxury goods, and health care industries said in April and May that they were hiring specialists for managerial positions. Although the survey targets experienced talents, demand in these areas is expected to remain high, with positions in sales and marketing, IT and accounting, as well as research and development in most demand.

As disposable income increases, demand in consumer-led industries becomes stronger, and fresh graduates should be paying attention to these economic trends when choosing their major and their first job.

Additionally, if you are trying to get a job in an area that has nothing to do with your degree then you are probably going to be near the back of a very long queue.

At university, all undergrads should to do as much non-study as possible

Although your degree is your main focus, participating in charity activities, joining sport teams, doing part-time work or joining societies will add strings to your bow that academic study cannot provide. It might also make you stand out from the hundreds of other first-class students.

Be persistent and flexible

You are very unlikely to find your ideal job, therefore it’s important to be prepared to accept something that was not perfect, but offers you a route to the job you want.

Emilie Bourgois is a PR manager at recruitment firm Antal International China in Beijing