How do I find the people I need?
Finding the people you need to run your business is not significantly different from what most of us are used to in the UK, or elsewhere in the West. There is remarkable talent in China and in our experience finding technically qualified employees is straightforward. You may well find that English speakers are quite young.

There are approximately 85 recruitment firms currently operating in China. Most operate under the standards you would expect from a firm in the West. They will do the sourcing, pre-interview candidates and charge you a percentage of the placed staff's first-year earnings or a one-off fee.

In addition to recruitment agencies in China, there is also a very active web-based system of advertising both for job seekers and employers, which can be highly effective. The greatest advantage of this being that it is updated on a daily basis and accessible all day everyday.

Expatriates or Local Employees?
This is a hotly debated topic in the employment market. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Advantages to hiring expatriates:
• Functional knowledge. Expatriates bring with them a deep knowledge of not just how to do the job but also how the job function fits into the organisation as a whole.
• Head office knowledge. Expatriates bring with them understanding of where the business is going and, more importantly, why. The history of your business is important and it will be respected. Pass it on.



Disadvantages to hiring expatriates:
• Cost. Depending on the package, expatriates can cost more than five times a locally hired manager. Typical packages include housing, insurance, payment of Chinese income tax, home passage and at least one rest and relaxation trip per year.
• Little knowledge of China. The Chinese culture is one where relationships are critical to doing business. The result of this is that expatriates, who in many cases do not have a deep understanding of Chinese culture, can find it very difficult to operate.
• Language. Even those expats with Chinese language capabilities are extremely unlikely to be able to manage operations in China without help. Almost all contracts are in Chinese.


Advantages to hiring local employees:
• Knowledge of China and the Chinese marketplace. The Chinese marketplace is a complex place to do business and the knowledge that local employees bring with them is critical to success. Local employees often bring with them local contacts which is immeasurably helpful while working with Chinese regulators and government agencies. Often, even though these contacts may have developed with a previous employer they remain with the employee even after they have moved on to another employer.
• Cost. Even after the mandatory contributions to pension and housing funds, China offers one of the least expensive and best qualified work forces in the world.



Disadvantages to hiring local employees:
• Inexperience. As the doors to China have not been open for very long, so too has there been little opportunity for Chinese employees to gain experience with Western working methods and standards. Practices developed in China are not always easily changed.
• Reluctance to make "big" decisions. The fact that employees now have the ability to make their own decisions is new to the Chinese market. With newness sometimes comes fear. Employees tend to fear the repercussions they may face by making either a wrong decision or one which causes their supervisor to lose "face".

• Helpful recruitment websites:
• 51 Job - Bi-lingual format online recruitment
• China HR - Chinese language online recruitment site:
• Recruitment.com.cn - A website that helps jobseekers and employment agencies find each other. Post your vacancy to receive responses
• Zeeko - This website provides you with the means to search and/or advertise jobs services, websites and so on, for targeting visitors to China:
• Zhaopin - A bi-lingual online job board publicising job information real time for Chinese and foreign job seekers and companies.