Gold rush

The Chinese media called it "the great gold rush".

Instead of digging for the yellow metal, a high-power delegation from Shanghai, representing 27 domestic institutions, went on a whirlwind tour of the world's financial capitals to prospect for talent knocked from their high perches by the credit crisis.

A news report in the November 29 issue of the Financial Times has these encouraging words to say: "Out-of-work finance professionals in the UK and US have a new reason for optimism about their employment prospects - especially if they speak Mandarin." The story, with the headline "Chinese seize opportunity to recruit western staff," was published just days before the Shanghai delegation embarked on its quest from the city's international airport in Pudong.

The journey took the Chinese group to London, Chicago and New York, where they met hundreds of potential candidates who showed an interest in applying for the 170 available jobs in such fields as asset management, economic and market research, risk management, insurance and information technology. Among the financial institutions represented by the group were Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Citic Bank and Orient Securities.

Although the Chinese financial institutions may not be holding out multimillion-dollar packages to attract the talent they want, they are offering what is widely known to be decent salaries that can allow the average expatriate families to live well in Beijing or Shanghai, where the cost of living is considerably lower than those in London or New York. A Chinese fund management company, for instance, is offering an annual pay package of up to 1.5 million yuan to recruit an expatriate executive to fill a senior position.

The recruitment drive had apparently caused something of a stir in New York, the last stop of the delegation. More than 1,000 people turned up at the two-day job fair hosted by the delegation in a 5-star hotel, says Huang Weimao, director of Shanghai Municipal Office for Introduction of Foreign Experts, and secretary of the Shanghai group.

The Chinese recruitment drive was the topic of lively discussion on various Internet forums. In a forum hosted by the Wall Street Journal, a correspondent said: "The reality of expat work life in big firms within the major business centers of China, is that life is pretty good. For many young and aspiring western financial sector employees, there are greater opportunities to be had by broadening their horizons to include China."

But human resources experts warn that those financial professionals who are used to the regulatory regimes of the US and the UK may find it difficult to adjust to the rather more restrictive and intrusive environment of the Chinese capital market.

The all-business approach of the professionals who grew up in the Western corporate culture, is not going to sit well in a Chinese-style office environment where personal feelings can take precedent over facts and figures.

Cheng Siwei, deputy director of Peking University China Venture Capital Research Center, says: "Some foreign talents may find it hard to acclimatize to the environment of China. Some foreigners just cannot cope with the Chinese-style human relations, or cannot understand the current Chinese situation. These people can't last too long in their jobs in Chinese enterprises."

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank listed the requirements of foreign hires on its website, and one of them is "be familiar and identify with Chinese culture; good ability of communicating in both Chinese and English."

Pay is another concern. Although the average salary offered to expatriate executives by Chinese enterprises is considerably higher than that of their Chinese counterparts, it is still way below the level for similar jobs in the international financial markets.

Zhao Chenglong, a manager of a headhunting company, recalls that one of his clients took a 40 percent pay cut in his present job and his income is still higher than the average pay of a director rank executive in a Chinese enterprise.

According to public reports, more than 30 million employees in New York Wall Street had an average annual income of more than $200,000 in 2006, Even if the average salary this year dropped as much as 35 percent, Wall Street employees' average income would still be $130,000, equivalent to nearly 900,000 yuan.

The culture is also an aspect for expatriates to learn in China. Bruce J. Avolio, chaired professor of business school of University of Washington, said in 2008 Singapore Human Capital Summit held in Singapore this year that embracing the differences between cultures is very important to people who want to find a job in China and it's also a good opportunity for Chinese people who worked in western countries to return to China for career development.

(China Daily 12/29/2008 page7)