Chinese exploit western (finance) job losses

[bigbadwolf]

In the FT:

Out-of-work finance professionals in the UK and US have a new reason for optimism about their employment prospects - especially if they speak Mandarin.


Chinese financial institutions are set to exploit the widespread job losses in western financial centres as a result of the credit crunch by next month embarking on a hunt for financial experts willing to relocate.


The Shanghai Financial Service Office has told state media the city is sending a delegation to New York, Chicago and London to recruit specialists in risk management, asset management, product research and development, macro*economics and policy analysis.

... But the salaries on offer in China are unlikely to meet international standards and a preference for those who understand and speak Mandarin Chinese will probably rule out many potential candidates.

In addition, China's unique political environment, in which the Communist party exercises ultimate control over all aspects of the financial, legal and commercial systems, means foreign passport-holders are unlikely to be given senior positions in state-run institutions.


China Investment Corp, the country's sovereign wealth fund, launched a global recruitment drive earlier this year but was unable to match salaries on offer in the City or on Wall Street.

 

[samiam]

I figure one of the best investments I can make is to learn Mandarin. Would not mind at all doing the expat thing in a wild frontier like China, but I hear the living conditions with the food and air quality is almost unbearable.

 

[alain]

... but I hear the living conditions with the food and air quality is almost unbearable...

Food is not unbearable, it's different. Where are you from? If you are willing to adapt, the food is a non-issue.

 

[Eddie]

Haha, I guess it all depends where and who you heard it from... ... and also, was? that someone trying to portray the trunk of an elephant or the ear of an elephant to you? Or maybe the someone only touched part of the elephant while he was blindfolded... ...If you're a type living your life by "hearing" from others, at least try to hear a little more... ...

 

[doug reich]

Here's another article on China, from NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/business/worldbusiness/26yuan.html)

With jobs quickly disappearing from Wall Street and the boom in global finance over for the foreseeable future, China still offers opportunity, even as its own economy slows. Worldwide, thousands of financial service jobs have been erased because of the credit crisis, with London and New York suffering large losses.

Now, in a reverse miniature brain drain, Chinese financial institutions are taking advantage of the downturn and focusing on the newly unemployed to diversify and upgrade their own staffs.
"We're looking very hard right now for experienced, senior-level talent who have knowledge of China. For our junior-level positions, we continue to recruit from our local Chinese talent pool," said Hong Chen, the chief executive of the Hina Group, a boutique global investment bank. The company specializes in cross-border mergers and acquisition advisory and has offices in Beijing and San Francisco.

In another reversal of fortune, China, because of its closed financial sector — which Washington and the West have been insisting China open — has been largely shielded from the toxic mortgage-backed securities that brought down many of the world's banks. Capital flows in and out of China are tightly controlled, and China's capital markets are closed to foreign companies.
But China's insular financial system has also kept it underdeveloped. Although employees of large Chinese financial institutions usually graduate from top Chinese universities, they lack practical market experience.