Recruiting in China

By Matt Ferguson
CEO, CareerBuilder.com
Adjust font size:
Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.

(CareerBuilder.com) -- Is finding a new job on your list of New Year's resolutions? The market may be in your favor.

Recent reports from the U.S. Labor Department indicate that while the expansion of the U.S. economy is slowing, it is doing so at a reasonable pace, and inflation has steadied.

A moderated, yet stable, job market is expected to carry over into 2007 with gains that will remain strong enough to keep the unemployment rate in check.

University of Michigan economists predict the United States will create 1.5 million jobs in the next 12 months.

According to CareerBuilder.com's annual job forecast, 40 percent of hiring managers and human resource professionals operating in the private sector report they will increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in 2007, compared to 2006. Eight percent expect to decrease headcount while 40 percent expect no change. Twelve percent are unsure.

Employers are expected to become more competitive in their recruitment and retention efforts in the New Year as the pool of skilled labor shrinks and productivity growth plateaus. Forty percent of employers report they currently have job openings for which they can't find qualified candidates.

This bodes well for workers who are likely to benefit from more generous job offers, more promotions, more flexible work cultures and other major trends identified for 2007:

No. 1: Bigger Paychecks
To motivate top performers to join or stay with their organizations, employers plan to offer better compensation packages.

Eighty-one percent of employers report their companies will increase salaries for existing employees. Sixty-five percent will raise compensation levels by 3 percent or more while nearly one-in-five will raise compensation levels by 5 percent or more.

Nearly half of employers (49 percent) expect to increase salaries on initial offers to new employees. Thirty-five percent will raise compensation levels by 3 percent or more while 17 percent will raise compensation levels by 5 percent or more.

No. 2: Diversity Recruitment -- Hispanics Workers in Demand
Understanding the positive influence workforce diversity has on overall business performance, employers remain committed to expanding the demographics of their staffs.

With the Hispanic population accounting for half of U.S. population growth since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and buying power growing 8 percent annually, one-in-ten employers report they will be targeting Hispanic job candidates most aggressively of all diverse segments.

Nine percent plan to step up diversity recruiting for African American job candidates while 8 percent will target female job candidates. Half of employers recruiting bilingual employees say English/Spanish-speaking candidates are most in demand in their organizations.

No. 3: More Flexible Work Arrangements
Work/life balance is a major buzzword among U.S. employers as employees struggle to balance heavy workloads and long hours with personal commitments.

Nineteen percent of employers say they are very or extremely willing to provide more flexible work arrangements for employees such as job sharing and alternate schedules. Thirty-one percent are fairly willing.

No. 4: Rehiring Retirees
Employers continue to express concern over the loss of intellectual capital as Baby Boomers retire and smaller generations of replacement workers fall short of labor quotas.

One-in-five employers plan to rehire retirees from other companies or provide incentives for workers approaching retirement age to stay on with the company longer.

No. 5: More Promotions
With the perceived lack of upper mobility within an organization being a major driver for employee turnover, employers are carving out clearer career paths.

Thirty-five percent of employers plan to provide more promotions and career advancement opportunities to their existing staff in the New Year.

No. 6: Better Training
In light of the shortage of skilled workers within their own industries, the vast majority of employers -- 86 percent -- report they are willing to recruit workers who don't have experience in their particular industry or field, but have transferable skills.

Seventy-eight percent report they are willing to recruit workers who don't have experience in their particular industry or field and provide training/certifications needed.

No. 7: Hiring Overseas
Companies continue to drive growth by entering or strengthening their presence in global markets. Thirteen percent of employers report they will expand operations and hire employees in other countries in 2007. Nine percent are considering it.

With China's economy expanding at 10 percent annually and India's at 8 percent, these two countries are particularly attractive to U.S. companies. Twenty-three percent of employers recruiting overseas report they will hire the most workers in China and 22 percent will hire the most in India.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 2,627 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions), ages 18 and over within the United States between November 17 and December 11, 2006.

Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

With a pure probability sample of 2,627, one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of 2 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. However that does not take other sources of error into account.

This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Matt Ferguson is CEO of CareerBuilder.com. He is an expert in recruitment trends and tactics, job seeker behavior and workplace issues.

Chinanews, Guangzhou, Jan. 4 ¨C Statistics show that foreign trade volume of Guangdong Province reached US$500 billion in 2006, compared with $400 billion in 2005.

Private enterprises in Guangdong also developed well last year, and the total number reached 500 thousand. Their industrial value-added had surpassed state-owned enterprises, ranking second among all kinds of enterprises.

Private enterprises also have helped to change the foreign trade style of Guangdong Province. The head of Guangdong Foreign Trade Bureau said that private enterprises have helped to boost the provincial export. Related statistics show that the export volume of private enterprises has reached $41.93 billion from Jan. to Nov. 2006, an increase by 57.7 percent.

Export in Guangdong was dramatic in 2006, with the export volume to Middle East, South America and Africa increasing by 48.9 percent, 59.9 percent and 51.4 percent respectively.

Chinanews, Beijing January 8 ¨C The GDP per capita of permanent residents in Beijing was over $6,000 in 2006, ranking it among intermediate developed cities in the world.

The statistics were revealed by Chai Xiaozhong, vice director of Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, last Friday.

Investment is no longer the major booster of economic growth in Beijing, the great leap of domestic consumption having contributed the most to the boom of local economy. Furthermore, most consumption in Beijing has little to do with subsistence, but with entertainment and personal development.

CHINA'S securities watchdog has begun an investigation into 17 mainland-listed companies that allegedly misappropriated 9.2 billion yuan (US$1.15 billion) in corporate funds and failed to return the money, officials said yesterday.

China's Securities Regulatory Commission had given the firms until the end of 2006 to make good on their debts.

The targeted companies include the Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical Co, China Textile Machinery Co and Hebei Baoshuo Co.

Executives who misappropriated funds in these companies for their own benefit will be prosecuted, a CSRC spokesman said.

Officials working for at least nine of the 17 companies face criminal investigation, the commission said, without identifying the firms.

In all, 36 companies failed to meet the deadline to repay a total 14.6 billion yuan in misappropriated funds. But the other 19 companies have developed plans to recover the money and won't face further sanctions.

Last year, 402 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges recovered 33.57 billion yuan that had been misappropriated by their controlling shareholders, authorities said.

The recovery campaign was aimed at improving the quality of the country's 1,400 listed companies and safeguarding the interests of shareholders.

The misappropriation of large sums by controlling shareholders has long been a major problem afflicting China's stock markets, officials acknowledged.

"It is a huge obstacle to the sound development of a listed company," a commission spokesperson said.

As a result, some companies that should have enjoyed good earnings were hampered by cash-flow problems after their funds were siphoned off, the watchdog said.

On October 19, 2005, the State Council approved guidelines drafted by the regulatory commission that required controlling shareholders to return all the money they had misappropriated by the end of 2006.

In October last year, the commission also reiterated that corporate executives who misused funds must make a choice between returning the money or facing legal action.

In a related move, China's prosecutors on Saturday vowed to intensify their crackdown on corruption, dereliction of duty and major economic crimes, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The prosecutorial organs are improving their efficiency in dealing with major corruption cases and have punished a large number of government officials," said Jia Chunwang, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

In the last two months of the year, China's prosecutors investigated 32,369 cases involving 38,457 officials who were accused of taking bribes or dereliction of duty. More than 17,440 cases involved large amounts of money, and 2,632 officials above the county-chief level were prosecuted or otherwise punished.

China's economic growth presents an opportunity for Latin America, said a report of UN Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC) on Wednesday.

The report said China became the fourth-largest economy in the world in 2005, replacing Britain and that China's share of the world trade volume has jumped from 1 percent to 6 percent in less than 20 years.

China has been the primary target of anti-dumping cases in recent years, the report pointed out, adding that many emerging economies harbored bias against China over its strong competitive edge from low labor costs, with some even blaming China for their poor exporting performance.

However, the report said China's enormous domestic market presents an opportunity to many countries, adding that Latin American countries will continue to benefit from China's economic growth and its ever-expanding domestic demand. Brazil's exports to China has quadrupled over the past four years, it added.

Meanwhile, the ECLAC stressed that there is no direct trade competition between China and Latin America in the U.S. market.

China's trade increase has little impact on Paraguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and Panama and China is a net importer of raw materials while Latin America is rich in natural resources.

Therefore, the report said China's economic growth and its integration in world trade would "obviously" benefit Latin America, the report added.

More emphasis should be attached to the establishment of a long-term employment assistance mechanism, according to a commentary in Workers' Daily. An excerpt follows:

Employment is the base of people's livelihood. It is gratifying to see that Northeast China's Liaoning Province recently carried out an employment relief act to help completely unemployed families.

In early 2005, the Liaoning government decided that there should be at least one person employed for every urban family in need of work. A total of 175,000 people from 143,000 families had new jobs by the end of that year. Another 34,000 families benefited from this project in the first 10 months of 2006. Now a balance has been sustained and the number of "zero-employment families" is zero. A long-term employment relief mechanism has been established. A report in People's Daily points out that the local government has done a good down-to-earth job.

Various activities have aimed to help ordinary people nationwide in recent years, including many long-term relief mechanisms. Liaoning's "zero-employment family" relief work is a typical example.

As the reform of enterprises deepens and labor relations adjust, some urban families are facing difficulties. Employment and re-employment have become the biggest issue for them. This is especially true as some laborers age, have no skills, or are in poor health. In some families both husband and wife have lost their jobs. Under such circumstances, it is extremely important to help them to get a job.

When completing the social security system including pension insurance, unemployment insurance and minimum-standard living insurance, governments at all levels should not forget building a long-term mechanism to promote employment. A job is always better than one-time financial relief. It would solve the problem at the root and show the government's responsibility to concentrate on employment, activate all resources, carry out favorable policies and enable laborers to support themselves legally.