Lots of people, not enough talents

The world most populous country has generated 4.1 million undergraduates alone in 2006. These highly educated youngsters not only have to compete among themselves but also against an additional 790,000 job seekers (2005 data) who are between jobs. Last week I was in a campus recruitment event, and the competition for an interview was fierce.

It seems with so many graduates each year companies have easier time to find candidates. If you think this way, you are too optimistic. Today in China, the most common topic among senior management is the lack of talents in an organization, especially those with solid experience and the right set of skills. 6 to 9 months search for the right candidate for some senior positions is common in Shanghai, and most of the time, the fight for this talent can be brutal. This translates to higher cost. In other words, if you want your job to be done ok, the cost can be reasonable in China. But we all know our clients want the best of the best. Then don’t be surprised to receive a high quotation that can be similar to that of New York or Chicago. Talents worth a lot in China, that’s also why they cost so much.

So you can say that when it comes to entry level positions, companies have the upper hand. But when it comes to senior level positions, the talent has the upper hand. This is just a matter of life here in China, today.

With no ending in sight of this trauma, many companies have started to plan programs to retain their talents. All of the sudden Chinese companies realize that talents are not easy to be replaced, and the cost of losing a talent results in losing business and connections. Benefits packages, as well as employee training courses have started to appear in many local organizations, but most of them are one-offs and lack of a unified, long-term strategy. This is part of growing pains – of a manufacturing base economy moving into a service and knowledge-base economy, but also represents immense opportunities for agencies providing services for employee retention.

A friend once joke that “people” is a commodity in China. I think – people, yes; talent, no.

Posted by Lydia Lee