Archive for May, 2008
May 29, 2008 at 4:57 pm · Filed under jobs, hong kong
The number of job vacancies in Hong Kong hit a record high in the first quarter of 2008 - a result of the territory’s continuing economic growth.
The active labor market, which has also seen a increase in the job turnover rate, is likely to push up wages, Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management president Lai Kam-tong said yesterday.
The organization, which carried out a survey of 131,000 workers, found the job vacancy rate peaked at 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008, up 1.5 percentage points from the same period in 2007.
“We have been able to pick up the economy and are still progressing on that path. Companies are more willing to expand and offer more job vacancies plus the workforce has more opportunity to advance their careers ,” Lai said. Telecommunications, engineering and retail sectors had the highest vacancy rates. But he warned that the United States subprime meltdown and fuel prices may affect the future pace of job creation in the private sector. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm · Filed under guangdong, china
Dongguan, a manufacturing boomtown in southern China, plans to shut 173 factories this year that are major polluters and cut low-end jobs in a bid to climb up the value chain, the official Guangzhou Daily reported on Wednesday.
The Pearl River Delta city will relocate another 600 firms to the suburbs, the newspaper said.
More than 15 million migrants work in Dongguan, which has only 1.68 million permanent residents.
The city government’s decision is in line with the drive by President Hu Jintao for a more “scientific” growth model that is cleaner and leaner. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 22, 2008 at 3:05 pm · Filed under banking, executives, hong kong
As leveraged finance transactions slow to a trickle, bankers Peter Szekely and Ponty Singh are let go as part of a global drive to cut costs
Morgan Stanley has let go of two of its leveraged finance bankers in Asia as part of a global round of job cuts that will reduce the bank’s headcount by 5%.
A Hong Kong-based spokesman confirmed that the two bankers are Peter Szekely, a product specialist within the leveraged finance and acquisition business in Asia, and Ponty Singh, who worked on the client coverage side with a focus on leveraged finance origination and high-yield bonds in Southeast Asia and India. Both bankers were promoted to managing directors in December last year.
The US investment bank said a couple of weeks ago that it would initiate another round of job cuts in the wake of subprime-related losses that forced the bank to write off a combined $9.4 billion in October and November last year (resulting in a fourth quarter loss of $3.6 billion) and seek a $5 billion equity investment from China Investment Corporation. The latest round of layoffs will affect 5% of the bank’s staff, which totals about 47,000 people globally, the bank told reporters in the US. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 21, 2008 at 10:43 am · Filed under jobs, china
China created 12.04 million jobs for urban dwellers in 2007 and helped 5.15 million laid-off workers find new jobs, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Tuesday.
The urban unemployed population was 8.3 million at the end of last year, with the urban registered unemployment rate standing at4.0 percent, down 0.1 percentage point year-on-year, according to a report jointly released by the ministry and the National Bureau of Statistics.
The report revealed that the average annual salary of urban employees reached 24,932 yuan (3,573 U.S. dollars), up 18.7 percent year-on-year in nominal terms and up 13.6 percent adjusted for inflation.
The Ministry of Finance said earlier this month that it would allocate 26 billion yuan this year to help more people find jobs. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 19, 2008 at 4:36 pm · Filed under jobs, executives, china, recruitment
Angie Eagan admits she is good at solving problems, and as the general manager with the headhunting firm Hudson Shanghai she is helping multinational companies in China find the talent they need - a task that she also admits isn’t always easy.
Hudson is a worldwide provider of permanent recruitment, contract professionals and talent management solutions worldwide.
With more multinational companies establishing and expanding their presence and more Chinese companies emerging, finding the right people to fill the right positions, especially at the leadership positions, is a challenge for any firm, according to Eagan, who has 20 years of experience in the field and has worked for 12 years in China. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 19, 2008 at 10:14 am · Filed under outsourcing, chengdu, jobs, overseas, expats, china
Globalization pushes enrollment in Chinese language programs higher
Three years ago, Chris Collins, a Wisconsin native, flew to China to take a job teaching English at a private school. He began studying Mandarin on the plane. Today, at 25, he is the international business development manager for a Chinese software outsourcing company, MaesInfo Corp., speaks the language and lives in a high-rise apartment in Chengdu.
Collins’ fast track to management ranks is a direct result of China’s accelerating growth as an offshore outsourcing provider. The Chinese IT and business process outsourcing market, at $1.7 billion last year, is growing at 38% annually and will likely reach $7 billion in 2010, according to the Everest Group, a Dallas-based outsourcing consulting firm.
China’s outsourcing growth is still only a fraction of India’s outsourcing market, which hit $40 billion last year and is expected to rise to $60 billion by 2010, according to Everest. But the rapid development of the Chinese market is creating opportunity for U.S. citizens with a spirit of adventure, a willingness to learn the language, and some business smarts. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 14, 2008 at 10:37 am · Filed under taiwan, jobs, recruitment
State-run Taiwan Post Co., Ltd. announced last month that it would recruit a total of 758 new employees this year, with their monthly pay to range from NT$24,000 to NT$41,000, according to company sources. The Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance (TABF) has been consigned to take charge of the recruitment efforts.
TABF will start accepting online registration by job applicants from May 16-28. A written test will be held simultaneously on June 22 in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, and an oral test will be given on Aug. 2-3.
A spokesman with Taiwan Post said that the company will hire 50 management staff with a monthly pay of NT$41,000. They should pass examinations in seven courses, including legal affairs, investment management, system analysis, architecture design, freezing and ventilation, and postal savings. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 13, 2008 at 4:22 pm · Filed under banking, jobs, china
While many foreign banks stung by the US subprime mortgage crisis are trimming their headcounts, they have largely held back the ax in high-growth markets in China and many other parts of Asia.
UBS, one of Europe’s biggest banking groups, said that the process of reviewing and reallocating resources “will result in a minimal number of redundancies in the region (including China)”. The staff restructuring “will have no impact on UBS’ continued growth in the region”, it said.
The group announced 5,500 job cuts worldwide last week, after reporting a $10.9 billion net loss in the first quarter.
Morgan Stanley, the second-largest US investment bank, told China Daily it has not yet laid off anyone in China, despite its large worldwide workforce reduction. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 9, 2008 at 1:57 pm · Filed under visa, expats, beijing, china
Beijing. In little more than 100 days, this city will open its arms to an unprecedented deluge of foreigners, many of whom will be pleasantly surprised by the dizzying array of designer boutiques, painfully hip martini bars and libertine pastimes not readily associated with an authoritarian, communist country.
But just as Beijing is promising to welcome 1.5 million visitors to the Olympic Games with newfound openness, public security officials are seeking to tighten controls over daily life, including new visa restrictions that are causing mounting anxiety among the 250,000 foreign citizens who have settled in the capital in recent years. The rules, which were introduced last week with no warning and little explanation, limit new visas to 30 days, making it difficult, if not impossible, for long-term residents to hold down jobs and maintain uncomplicated lives. The restrictions are also infuriating business leaders in Hong Kong who have become used to crossing the border with ease. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 8, 2008 at 3:17 pm · Filed under henan, jobs, graduates, china
Fresh out of college, Shen Juntian returned to the village he left with a “city dream” four years earlier. He returned as a village administrator.
Now a village head assistant in Maozhuang in central China’s Henan Province, Shen’s routine includes drafting reports for the village committee, mediating conflicts and organizing activities like basketball games.
Shen enjoys his work. “At first, it was a compromise between reality and dreams, when the competitive job market forced me to think again about this position,” he said, referring to his return to the countryside although most of his classmates chose to stay in the city.
“But later, I began to love this job, where I get the chance to know the realities of China and help make changes in the countryside,” he said.
Shen invited agricultural experts to give lectures and taught farmers to choose high-quality seeds. He went door-to-door to persuade villagers to eliminate unhealthy habits, such as raising fowl in close proximity to humans and drinking well water without boiling it. Read the rest of this entry »
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