Despite an increasing number of Taiwanese expressing an interest in working in China, only 14 percent of local enterprises said they would first consider Taiwanese applicants when hiring for China-based positions, a survey by online manpower agency 104 Job Bank revealed yesterday.
The survey, which polled 725 companies between Oct. 5 and Oct.15, indicated that employers valued job applicants’ capabilities more than their nationality when recruiting new staff, particularly given cut-throat competition in the internationalized Chinese labor market.
“Professionals go beyond -borders and most enterprises have become goal-oriented when hiring,” 104 Job Bank public relations manager Max Fang (方光瑋) told a media briefing, saying that being Taiwanese no longer carries the weight it did just a few years ago.
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
In the past, Taiwanese were considered to be more innovative, better at execution and more professional than their Chinese counterparts, and thus enjoyed a significant competitive advantage when looking for jobs in China.
Up to 86 percent of respondents said that Taiwanese applicants would not necessarily have a better chance of being hired when competing with Chinese jobseekers.
As many as 44 percent of respondents said they cared more about whether employees could achieve a goal set by the company than their nationality, the survey found.
“Chinese people learn very quickly and they want to win over their Taiwanese counterparts,” Kathy Chung (鐘靜如), public relation and marketing director at 85oC Bakery Cafe, said during the press conference.
COMPETITIVE
Fang said that 62.6 percent of enterprises considered operational management the best position for Taiwanese jobseekers, followed by project management at 21.1 percent and research and development at 20.1 percent.
GREATER DEMAND
Following the recent announcement of the 12th Five-Year Plan by the Chinese government and its focus on stimulating domestic demand, Fang said that would probably stimulate greater cross-strait investment, driving up demand for professionals in Taiwan and China.
More than 60 percent of enterprises planned to extend their payrolls in China in the near future, especially in the fields of operational management (36.7 percent), sales (27.3 percent) and marketing (25.5 percent), the survey showed.
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