Mainland China tech companies ramp up efforts to attract top talents

Global leading recruitment group Hays released its latest IT Inside Story, providing insights on the talent demand and challenges faced by China’s IT industry.

According to the report, as Mainland China leads the way as a technological trailblazer, its leading position does not come without risks or hurdles. In an industry where a company is only as good as its talent pool, IT businesses in Mainland China have been compelled to outbid each other to secure the best talents locally and from abroad.

“Emerging technologies has been, and always will, be the driving force behind continuous transformation for Mainland China’s information technology landscape. As such, the rapid ‘newness’ of each new technological breakthrough is resulting in a competitive and starkly talent short market in Mainland China’s IT industry,” says Jessica Wang, Regional Director at Hays Beijing.

To overcome the challenge of astute talent shortage, companies are far from taking a backseat in enticing potential employees. From 50 per cent salary increments, to on-boarding fees, equity, stock options and attractive bonuses, these companies have been pulling out all the stops in securing the best talents.

Beyond financial factors, employers are well aware of other increasingly inescapable considerations of tech talents. For instance, Chinese companies who are looking to attract Chinese returnees from the U.S. and expatriates have been striving to develop a hybrid culture of sorts to facilitate employees’ transition from West to East. The pervasive ‘996’ culture in China –– i.e., working from 9 a.m. till 9 p.m., six days a week –– perks such as on-site massage parlors, open seating arrangements, office pets, foosball tables and open-door policies are progressively commonplace for better work environment in tech giants and start-up companies.

As for the candidate demand, Hays says specialists in AI, big data and cloud computing (ABC), data analysts and scientists, online security experts and software engineers are in highest demand. The talent storage in these areas – with the predicted five – million job vacancies for AI professionals only in the near future – will result in heightened salary increases.

Enterprise businesses have been receiving foreign and domestic investments for R&D, digital transformation and getting their ABCs down pat. There has also been greater focus in the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) and block chain, fueling the Fourth Industrial Revolution that is changing the world of work.

The focal point for companies is building their capabilities in big data and machine learning to understand consumer trends and expand customer relationships. Candidates who are experts in these areas are hot in demand, as such technologies are highly applicable to both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) industries.

In addition, despite tightening laws on cybersecurity, Mainland China still remains a hotbed for cybercrimes, leading to the ramped-up efforts on protection against cyberattacks. White-hackers in particular, who specialise in penetration testing will become increasingly critical within organizations in Mainland China.

“While it may seem that tech candidates have leverage in Mainland China, it would be remiss to not mention that Chinese employers are, at the same time, raising their standards when it comes to hiring. A candidate who is the absolute perfect fit for both mid-level and senior-level roles would have to possess strong technological knowledge and expertise,” adds Jessica.

Supporting this, in a Job Registration Survey conducted by Hays Mainland China between March to August 2018, employers in IT covet technical knowledge the most (57 per cent), over other criteria such as management/ leadership skills (19 per cent), previous employers (11 per cent), previous career stability (12 per cent) and salary expectations (one per cent).This is owing to the fact that is uncommon for such senior positions to be pure management roles. Employees are therefore expected to take a hands-on approach regardless of their ranks.

To read the full Inside Story of IT in Mainland China, please click here.