Tech Skills + English = A Job in China

Posted by Jim Stroud

September 4, 2006

Found a great new blog today - Recruiting In China. Check out this interesting post…

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In the three years since receiving his engineering degree in Shanghai, Jason Zhang has switched jobs twice and quintupled his salary as overseas companies scour China for professional workers.

“If you have language skills, if you have technical skills, it’s very easy to find a job,” says Zhang, 26, who speaks fluent English and now writes software for International Business Machines. “There are more jobs than even two years ago because of the outsourcing from Europe and the U.S.”

However, Zhang is an anomaly in China and his successful job moves illustrate the large demand in China for qualified workers.

Employers like General Electric, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Ernst & Young are struggling to find engineers, lawyers and accountants as Chinese universities fail to turn out qualified professionals, especially those who speak English.

The shortage is threatening expansion plans and driving up salaries in China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

“We could argue that more than water, energy and infrastructure, talent is the greatest constraint on China’s growth,” said Andrew Grant, who heads the greater China office of McKinsey, a consulting firm that advises two-thirds of the Fortune 1000 companies.

Fewer than 10 percent of Chinese job-seekers are qualified for accounting, finance and engineering jobs at overseas companies, according to a November report by McKinsey that was based on interviews with more than 80 human resources executives. Most lack English skills and a “cultural fit,” the report said.

Source: Lack of professionals hampers China

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