Recruiting in China

TAIPEI, 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.

An 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.

Employment 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 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, 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.

SINGAPORE: About 1,000 Singaporeans vied for 100 top financial jobs at the "Career in China Job Fair" held at Suntec Singapore on Sunday.

Jobs search website JobsDB said it is the first time high-level financial institutions from China have come together to attract talent from Singapore.

18 Chinese banks and institutions were at the fair, including Bank of Shanghai and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The salary ranges for the top jobs on offer were between S$100,000 and S$400,000 per year.