HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, LABOUR MARKET AND EXPATRIATION IN CHINA

Cultural differences inside business
There are many differences between China and the Western countries and these differences become very important when they affect to the business and to the management of the different companies that are working in China.
The cultural differences impact issues related to feedback and performance evaluation methods, lines of authority and information management.
One difference that particularly impressed me is the very short-term focus that Chinese workers have, even when the companies offer them much money or training. I realized that the main causes are the high stress (Chinese workers are the most stressed in Asia) and boredom and routine, especially within the young workers. This generation doesn´t want to continue doing work that is very mundane and they prefer return to their villages and get a job there. A possible solution is to open factories where the workers are coming from. Also, this generation is much more risk-averse than the engineers who are working in Silicon Valley, for example. These one see joining a startup company as an exciting opportunity and potential path to glory for them, unlike Chinese workers, whose primaries concerns are economic and reputational.
The role of business women
I would like to talk about this issue because I think that it is very problematic and unfair. There is a big problem with the women population in general in China, since male children massively outnumber female children, especially in South China and caused indirectly for the One Child Policy. I think this affects the mentality of contractors and in general to the entire population.
On the other hand there is no equality in terms of hiring. Many companies prefer hiring men since they think that women take a long leave when they get pregnant and work less effectively and put their main focus on family and children after they get married.
That´s why it is not all rare in China to see the words “Men Preferred” or “Single women preferred” in job advertisements. This is technically illegal, but it frequently occurs. Many employers consider married woman unsuitable for late night social gatherings.
A land of opportunities for foreigners
The short term focus is one, but not the only reason that causes that foreigner workers are more and more demanded in China.
The other main reason is the drop in the total Chinese labor force, caused by different reasons:
1) Hukou policy: Created in 1958, the hukou ties citizens to where they are born, limiting the use of public services if they move to other areas. Within these public services are the social insurance and the educational opportunities.
2) One Child Policy: This policy is no longer in force, but it causes an ageing population, reducing the number of people in working age.
For all these reasons, my conclusion is that there are several opportunities of working for foreigners in China, and this is a very good new. There are two types of targets:
• The traditional demanded specialized technical talent.
• The growing market of newly created cross-cultural roles. These professionals combine local market capacity with an international mindset.
I think that the best option for foreigners who want to work in China is to live in the small cities in the west for a period and learn the culture and the customs and then move to the big cities for asking for a job, because at that moment you would have the two types of thinking that are so demanded.

No hay comentarios / 15 Mar 2016 por jgomezgaray
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