I’ve been on the road this week - talking to logistics managers in Shenzhen, US buyers in Jiangsu and academics at Fudan University. The sky isn’t falling for most of these folks in China just yet - but no one is talking about how tough it is to expand or how much trouble they’re having finding managers anymore. It’s just about holding ground right now. No big surprise there.

The really interesting development is what’s happening in my inbox. I’m hearing from lots of old friends and friends of friends - all showing renewed interest in China. But they’re not talking about investing or setting up businesses — they’re curious about the chances of finding gainful employment in China. Some of these people are recent grads trying to get a bit of real-life-China experience, but some are bankers and financial managers with serious experience.

They don’t know much about China — but they are convinced that it is the answer to their prayers.

Those Who Can, Teach

This is the beginning of a very one-sided love affair, if you ask me. I don’t know what Wall St. refugees think is waiting for them in China — particularly the ones who speak fluent Trader-ese and no Chinese. Unless they are willing to work 100% commission cold-calling cynical expat managers about offshore investing miracles, there are going to be few takers for their highly specialized talents. Aren’t the Chinese interested in learning about the securities business? Yes and no. Wall Street-style finance wasn’t too highly respected in China last year — and now it’s akin to a war crime. Chinese bankers aren’t chomping at the bit to learn how to repeat western mistakes.

Lot’s of these people will never get past the planning stages of their China adventure. Others will decide early that they won’t be able to transfer their skills. Many of the younger ones, disenchanted with their old industry or willing to take the time to build up their China CV, will follow in the footsteps of those that came before them. Many will end up teaching English and studying Chinese. The lucky ones will get to sit in the same room with professionals in their field and will doubtlessly try to parlay their new ‘guanxi’ connections into lucrative careers. Most will be teaching kids the finer points of grammar and pronunciation.

Are any of these folks appropriate for your business? Possibly. We’ll be seeing more of these economic refugees looking for a new life in Shanghai and HK if the global economy fails to spring suddenly back to life by the first quarter of 09. Now it’s the finance people, but soon you’ll be seeing CVs from a broader cross-section of professions and industries.

Choose carefully, and remember your own situation. There’s a good chance that the worst of the economic downturn in China will occur while western economies are already starting to recover. Make sure that any China newbies you hire will A) help you survive the downturn by reducing your overall costs or improving your SHORT TERM revenue generation, and B) stick around to put their new experience to work after western firms start hiring again.

You will probably want to take your time. The selection of CVs may be improving soon.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 11:01 am and is filed under HR, Bear wrestling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.