China’s Covid controls over the last three years and tough immigration rules have made it hard to recruit talent to the world’s second-biggest economy after the United States, but even if the country removes barriers for foreigners, it faces stiff competition from other parts of Asia.
South China Morning Post writes the mainland is competing for foreign expertise with Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which face a shrinking workforce due to low birth rates and ageing populations.
Foreign talent – from nurses to software engineers – is most likely to go where tax rates are “attractive” and immigration rules favourable. Lancy Chui, senior vice-president at the staffing firm ManpowerGroup Greater China in Hong Kong, says Chinese companies need to offer salaries, housing allowances and educational aid for children that match local living costs, while Chinese authorities could help by simplifying work visas and residency rules.
Global Times says it is China's medium- and senior-skilled labour shortage that is expanding at the greatest rate, with some firms that target vocational and technical colleges as a source of new recruits returning empty-handed.
A shortage of talent in artificial intelligence (AI) has been a key challenge, as China forges ahead with its goal to be a world leader in the field by 2030, says Channel News Asia. In 2020, officials said the country faces a shortage of five million AI professionals.
ManpowerGroup reports from manufacturing to marketing, transport to trade, employers cannot find the people they need with the right blend of technical skills and human strengths. Global talent shortages have reached a 16-year high in 2022 as three in four employers in China have reported difficulty finding the talent they need.
And while China can’t find it, Bloomberg opinion columnists suggest America is losing talent, as they discuss this great talent recession faced by both global superpowers.
- Asia Media Centre
