A new report on hiring difficulties in the life sciences market in China just came across my desk.
 
The title of the report is ?Overcoming the Challenges of Recruiting and Retaining Talent in China?s Life Sciences Market?, and the authors are Cheryl Buxton, Li Ling and Helen Tantau from Korn Ferry. They seem to combine local knowledge of China with industry knowledge of life sciences. 
 
The report follows up well on the sentiment in my previous post about how the education system in China is not delivering the skills that companies need. Money quote:

?the single largest brake on the growth of the life sciences sector in China is the struggle to attract, and even more importantly, retain an executive workforce that possesses the right skill sets?

Without laboring the point, this is the case in every industry and market in China but, as I said, the report offers good insight into how the life sciences, and other industries, are coping with the War for Talent in China.

If you don?t have time to read the report, here is a summary:

• The phenomena of the War for Talent in China continues in the life science industry.
• In North America and Europe the market appears flat for life sciences companies. The growth rate of most MNCs in China is, by any standard, phenomenal, and this is on the back of massive government support and investment.
• The biggest shortage is in local Chinese nationals, as opposed to expatriate foreigners.
• The shortage of local talent has created opportunities for expatriates.
• Recruitment of all kinds of professionals is very difficult in life sciences, but the problems will continue, with high rates of turnover the norm. Rates of 30-40% are common for sales and manufacturing.
• Local HR Managers find it difficult to explain this turnover to company headquarters where the common belief is that people in China are just queuing up for jobs. (A lot of us here are tittering at this point?..)
• Multinational companies tend to seek ?superstars?, while local State-Owned Chinese companies tend to look for generalists who can fit in. These local companies tend to experience much lower turnover. Top players looks for salary increases of up to 100% just to change jobs.
• Returnees, those PRC citizens who have returned from work overseas, offer a solution but there is a lot of risk, with only one in three succeeding in the role.
• Moving candidates between cities in China is as difficult as moving someone between cities in Europe, such as Paris to London. Shanghai is top choice for candidates, and moving professionals from Shanghai to other cities is fraught with risk.
• Organisational development is beginning to take root in China but we are at a very early stage.
• The ideal culture is one that is team-based, transparent, open and less hierarchical, where values and ethics are rewarded.

So hiring is the current challenge. Retention is next, when we get to it, and organisational development the long term challenge that we may never get to.