I first came to China in the autumn of 2005, just in time for the National Day celebrations. However, being new to the Middle Kingdom, I had no idea just what the Golden Weeks were like for travel. I had planned to leisurely travel around the country enjoying the fine weather and discovering a fascinating blend of culture. However, as I am sure you can imagine, I found traveling a particularly difficult prospect. The trains were packed to the rafters and air tickets were being hawked at premium prices. Therefore, I spent most of my time stranded in Beijing, before eventually snaring a bus ticket to Shanghai.
My brief stay just over three years ago may have been ultimately disappointing, but it whetted my appetite for China - I knew I would soon be back. And, so it was. Fast forward a few months and I landed in a cold foggy Beijing just in time for Spring Festival. This time though, everything was planned out like a well-oiled machine. My friend Ossie and I were to stay in Beijing for the fireworks and holiday fun, before spreading our wings and exploring the country on a wider scale. We tramped our way around several fantastic cities. However, one I remember with greatest clarity is Hangzhou. We stayed there for two misty, drizzly days admiring the West Lake and the ancient buildings that surround it.
I certainly have fond memories of Hanzghou because of the wonderful traveling memories it provided. However, having worked in the HR field here in China for the past two years, my memories of Hangzhou now also affect me in a different way. The job-market in China right now is a little like Hangzhou – imagine it as a city built around a lake. Actually, imagine it as a city built around two lakes. Or rather, a country built on two talent pools.
The first of these pools is full of fresh graduates in the first year or first few months in the job-market. This pool is deep and overflowing. To give you a practical example of this, statistics in Beijing released in 2007 estimated that over 200,000 would graduate that year. However, just 87,000 could expect to find jobs requiring university degrees. The other pool though, is almost dry. Employees with strong qualifications and – crucially – rich experience are thin on the ground (sorry for mixing my metaphors a little there). A McKinsey Global Institute survey in 2006 estimate that in the upcoming 10 years China will need 75,000 MBA qualified managers, of which – at the time – it possessed just 5,000.
These two frighteningly dissimilar pools are the reason why today organisations in China are fighting one of the fiercest talent wars the world has ever seen. Over my next few blog entries, I will focus on just this – war for talent.
My brief stay just over three years ago may have been ultimately disappointing, but it whetted my appetite for China - I knew I would soon be back. And, so it was. Fast forward a few months and I landed in a cold foggy Beijing just in time for Spring Festival. This time though, everything was planned out like a well-oiled machine. My friend Ossie and I were to stay in Beijing for the fireworks and holiday fun, before spreading our wings and exploring the country on a wider scale. We tramped our way around several fantastic cities. However, one I remember with greatest clarity is Hangzhou. We stayed there for two misty, drizzly days admiring the West Lake and the ancient buildings that surround it.
I certainly have fond memories of Hanzghou because of the wonderful traveling memories it provided. However, having worked in the HR field here in China for the past two years, my memories of Hangzhou now also affect me in a different way. The job-market in China right now is a little like Hangzhou – imagine it as a city built around a lake. Actually, imagine it as a city built around two lakes. Or rather, a country built on two talent pools.
The first of these pools is full of fresh graduates in the first year or first few months in the job-market. This pool is deep and overflowing. To give you a practical example of this, statistics in Beijing released in 2007 estimated that over 200,000 would graduate that year. However, just 87,000 could expect to find jobs requiring university degrees. The other pool though, is almost dry. Employees with strong qualifications and – crucially – rich experience are thin on the ground (sorry for mixing my metaphors a little there). A McKinsey Global Institute survey in 2006 estimate that in the upcoming 10 years China will need 75,000 MBA qualified managers, of which – at the time – it possessed just 5,000.
These two frighteningly dissimilar pools are the reason why today organisations in China are fighting one of the fiercest talent wars the world has ever seen. Over my next few blog entries, I will focus on just this – war for talent.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment