Interview with Shanghai Liberate Daily News Paper

Recently, Hewitt released assessment report of salary prediction. Next year, salary level of companies in Shanghai will reach the growth rate 7.0% or so. The national trend in salary is the same as that, exceeds 5% of this year. How the salary of domestic finance is going to be next year after surviving from the financial crisis? For more than a year before the crisis to maintain Can the glorious era that keeping double-digit annual growth before the depression reproduce?

The Raises Prediction in Growing Optimism

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Robert Parkinson, Antal International's Managing Director for China.

‘Antal International’ is a global headhunting firm with over 50 offices in 20 countries. The organisation has been operating in China for around 10 years, introducing countless foreign professionals to the country.

Our reporter He Fei talked with Robert Parkinson, Antal International’s Managing Director for China, regarding the employment market in China and how the country can attract even more international talent.

Robert Parkinson - Managing Director

2009 has been arguably one of the most challenging years for a long time for both MNC and SME companies in mainland China. We have seen bull turn to bear in a matter of weeks resulting in hiring freezes across the board and many companies taking an opportunity to reduce their low performing heads and freezing action on new headcount.

HOWEVER – as quickly as things got bad, they have bounced back with Q3 showing a substantial increase in hiring volumes, and Q4 hiring volumes at the same level as Q4 2009. I therefore wanted to simply take a brief opportunity to present you with a copy of Antal International’s monthly newsletter and to introduce our – executive ‘rising-star’ recruitment services across China:

• Firstly, Antal employs over 100 recruitment consultants based between Beijing and Shanghai – we therefore have the scale and ‘critical-mass’ to truly be able to help you in a specialist manner.
• We were a (close!) runner up in the CCH China Recruitment Firm of the year in 2008 and do enjoy a great level of recognition across China – helping you as a client particularly for our dual branded advertising campaign.
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Robert Parkinson with Tom and Jules in the studio. photo: cribeyondbeijing.com

This is not the first time he’s joined us.
Last time he talked about China’s increasing job market. This time he will share his thoughts and experiences regarding business ethics.

CLICK HERE to listen.

Robert Parkinson - Managing Director

A quarterly survey of employment trends in over 30 key countries has found the percentage of organisations in China hiring professionals and managers has rebounded to 74% after a dramatic fall to 43% at the beginning of 2009. As a result job prospects for professionals and managers in China are now well ahead of the global average.

The ‘Global Snapshot’ from the international recruitment firm, Antal, asked 7397 companies in major markets such as western and eastern Europe, Africa, India, China and the USA whether they were currently hiring at professional and managerial level. It then asked whether they planned to do so in the coming quarter and whether they were currently letting staff go or were planning to do so in the next three months. Current hiring across the globe was up from 46% of respondents in April to 50% now. And the percentage of organisations intending to hire in the coming quarter was up from 44% to 48%. At the same time the percentage of organisations intending to shed staff had fallen from 35% in the spring to 25% now.

In China, where Antal currently has two offices, 49% of businesses expected to recruit in the coming quarter. Only 34% were in the process of reducing headcount and this was expected to drop to 28% over the next three months.

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Amid the current financial crisis, we know there are fewer jobs available. To tell our listeners the latest information about the job market in China and to share some useful tips for job seekers, we have an expert in studio today.

Robert Parkinson is the Managing Director of China from Antal International, a global executive recruitment organization with more than 50 offices in 20 countries.

CLICK HERE to listen to the show

Despite the widespread financial gloom, Antal is finding China’s recruitment market to be growing more strongly than ever. With most of the globe held back by a deep recession, how is it that a massive 50% of China’s companies are still expecting to recruit this quarter?

After speaking with leading professionals like you recently, we have found that there is still a need for companies to have an effective recruitment partner to help them acquire the real talent that they require both locally and globally. Listed below are a few areas what we are working on currently:

• Renewable energy Sector
• Banking: Telemarketing Manager, RM (MNC or Local Corporate), Head of Compliance, Risk Control Manager, Marketing Manager
• Investment: Senior Associate, VP, Principal, Managing Director from sell-side or buy-side
• Fund Management: Fund Manager, Deputy Investment Head,
• IT & High Technology Sector
• Accountancy Sector, etc

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FMCG sector is still active to hire but more cautious than last year, according to job market survey conducted by Antal. Employers are expected to be conservatively optimistic about adding sales and marketing professionals in the third quarter. Among the executives who said they plan to hire in the third quarter, 36 percent reported business growth or expansion as the primary factor driving hiring demand. These executives continue to report difficulty finding highly skilled professionals for certain functional areas, such as Brand. Manager, Trade Marketing Manager and Sales Development Manger.

After speaking with leading professionals like yourself recently, we have found that there is still a need for companies to have an effective recruitment partner to help them locate the real talent that they require both locally and globally.

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The alternative energy sector has been and always will be the key to all organizations in the world. With this in mind, the energy sector has not been as badly affected as other sectors, for example, the automotive industry, finance and construction industry who have seen the worst side to the economic crisis.

The good news for a lot of us, is that we can see some good development in the current market situation. In the renewable energy sector, there are sings that companies are getting more confident in hiring new professionals, by either replacement or even expansion recruitment, to lead the development pace along with the global trends.

After speaking with leading professionals like yourself recently, we have found that there is still a need for companies to have an effective recruitment partner to help them acquire the real talent that they require both locally and globally.

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China’s automobile industry is in rapid development since the year 2000. In 2008, 9.345 million motor vehicles were manufactured in China, surpassing United States as the second largest automobile maker, after Japan. Moreover, due to the current financial crisis, China is the largest automobile market in the world for the first five months of year 2009, with total sale of 4.95 million vehicles. China may surpass United States and become the largest car market for the whole year of 2009. The top 5 car sellers are Volkswagen, GM, Toyota, Nissan and Chery. Meanwhile, for the machinery industry, the international Construction Equipment OEMs are struggling to maintain the profitable growth in 2009, compared to their local counterparts.

The good news for a lot of us, is that we can see some good developments in the current market situation. In the Auto & Machinery sector, there are signs that companies are getting more confident in hiring new professionals, by either replacement or even expansion recruitment.

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The IT and Hi-Tech sector has been and always will be the key to all organizations in the world. With this in mind, the IT &Hi-tech sector has not been as badly affected as other sectors.

The good news for a lot of us, is that we can see some good developments in the current market situation. In the IT & Hi-tech sector, there are signs that companies are getting more confident in hiring new professionals, by either replacement or even expansion recruitment.

After speaking with leading professionals like yourself recently, we have found that there is still a need for companies to have an effective recruitment partner to help them locate the real talent that they require both locally and globally.

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The Accountancy Discipline has been and always will be the key to all organizations in the world. With this in mind, the Accountancy discipline has not been as badly affected as other Discipline or sectors, for example, the Legal Discipline, automotive industry, finance and construction industry who have seen the worst side to the economic crisis.

The good news for a lot of us, is that we can see some good developments in the current market situation. The accountancy sector is looking to be in great health this year, there are signs that companies are getting more confident in hiring new professionals, by either replacement or even expansion recruitment.

After speaking with leading professionals like yourself recently, we have found that there is still a need for companies to have an effective recruitment partner to help them locate the real talent that they require both locally and globally.

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Since the financial crisis started from 2007, the whole world is expecting the reform of the financial institutions and related regulation from countries to countries. The G20 meeting in London earlier this year set the direction for the reform of the financial services to prevent a recurrence of the present crisis. There is urgent need for international financial institutions to integrate their regional or global structure while under the pressure of the reformed regulation, limited resource and growing competition.

After speaking with leading professionals like you recently, we have found that there is still need for companies to have an effective recruitment partner help them locate the real talent that they required both locally and globally.

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The global downturn has had a massive impact on businesses across the globe.

A panel of experts and professionals discuss whether the ‘green shoots’ of recovery are in sight.

CLICK HERE to listen to the show

As Antal’s global snapshot demonstrates, China’s hiring rates are rising and looking positive.

However, is this good news in line with China’s other issues of falling exports, slowing domestic spending and the implications of today’s largely globalized economy?

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Antal’s expansion plans
While Beijing and Shanghai continue to be centers of growth, it’s only a matter of time before China’s second tier cities catch up, according to Tony Goodwin, CEO of international recruiter Antal.

He has announced plans for expansion to a range of new locations: “We hope to have offices in cities such as Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou and Qingdao within the next few years.”

Chengdu’s turnaround
One year ago Chengdu was an epicenter of destruction following the nation’s deadliest earthquake for over 30 years. 4.8 million people were confirmed homeless and nearly 70 000 dead. Exactly one year on, it is China’s new centre of investment.

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A quarterly survey of hiring and firing trends in over 30 key countries has found job prospects for professionals and managers in China better than the global average. The percentage of organisations here expecting to shed staff in the next three months is also substantially below the worldwide average.

CLICK HERE to read the full Global Snapshot

The ‘Global Snapshot’ from the international recruitment firm, Antal, asked 4217 companies in major markets such as western and eastern Europe, Africa, India, China and the USA whether they were currently hiring at professional and managerial level. It then asked whether they planned to do so in the coming quarter and whether they were currently letting staff go or were planning to do so in the next three months. Current hiring across the globe was down from 54% of respondents at the beginning of the year to 47% now. However the percentage of organisations intending to hire in the coming quarter had actually risen from 43% to 44%.

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Historically speaking, in many famous global organizations, staffing was typically one of a handful of core competencies commonly possessed by human resource generalists. In the 1990s, this shifted dramatically as HR became increasingly specialized and we saw the development of Centers of Expertise. It provided specialized functional support that was cost effective, and capable of providing a higher level of increasingly complex functional support. And they also allowed HR generalists to evolve to what was commonly referred to as a “business or strategic partner” role. So, good in concept, but why does it fail so often in practical application?

There are basic tools that we use to help achieve role clarity. They include methods like service-level agreements; or process maps that define processes and accountability. Often, the use of those tools can eliminate a big part of the dissonance that may exist between staffing and HR generalists. Sometimes, though, just defining processes and roles isn’t enough. Some generalists define themselves as the “broker” of all things HR for the internal client.

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Headline Numbers:

• 10 years presence in Beijing, 3 years in Shanghai
• 100+ executive search consultants, 20+ research and support staff
• 120 global offices covering Asia, Middle-East, Central Asia, Europe, Africa, USA
• 2000+ placements in China Annually

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A major new survey of hiring and firing trends in over 100 countries has found that despite the fact that hiring levels are falling in China, they still remain relatively buoyant in comparison to those across Asia and the rest of the world.

According to the Global Snapshot report from international recruitment specialist, Antal, which surveyed employers in 107 countries around the world, recruitment is currently relatively strong in China with 43% of businesses currently hiring managerial personnel. This is expected to fall to 20% in the coming quarter but the number of companies letting people go is also set to decrease so the market still looks as though it will remain stable.

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Workforce planning, how do you see it?
Talent management hot topics changes quite often. But under the current circumstances, workforce planning is one of the hottest topic within the talent management community.

The reasons are simple: with the current economy driving revenues down dramatically, many senior executives are examining how to plan ahead in order to increase their firms’ capabilities, reduce costs, and survive the economic chaos likely to continue for some time.

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Finding employment, particularly for young people, can be a challenge at the best of times. But during a downturn in the economic cycle, the challenges can be that much greater.  Here in China, though the worst effects of the global economic downturn have not been felt, employment remains a challenge.  And while jobs are disappearing in traditional export-based sectors, efforts are being undertaken to stimulate employment growth in other areas of the economy.  So what areas are poised for job growth?  What is the status of educational development for perspective employees here in China? 

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Chinese firms are continuing to hire managerial staff despite the economic slump, with media professionals and accounts in most demand, an international poll has found.

Recruitment has remained relatively strong in China, with 43 percent of businesses taking on managerial personnel, according to a quarterly survey by Antal International this month.

The figure is expected to fall to 20 percent next quarter but the number of companies letting staff go will also drop, keeping the market stable, the survey said. “The global financial situation has certainly had an effect on the jobs market here, but conditions are still relatively strong,” said Robert Parkinson, who runs Antal’s operations in China.

“Hiring activity is down from the last quarter but at the same time so is the number of companies firing managerial staff,” he said. “It suggests organizations are still looking for new talent but with caution, waiting to see what happens in the coming months.”

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本报讯（记者胡笑红）跨国管理人才招聘解决方 商安拓国际昨天宣布，将要 在中国市场进行一场持续、长期的“白衣骑士”猎头收购 和合并计划。据了解，其为 此投入金额达到1000 万英 镑（约合1亿元人民币）。

据介绍，收购对象主要 是现金流处于相对困难的 国内猎头公司和人才服务 机构。安拓国际中国公司 有关负责人李晨介绍，“白
衣骑士”项目的对象主要是从 事合同雇员和临时雇员 派遣的人才机构，行业主要 是快速消费品、医疗、可再 生资源、运输领域的人才招 聘机构。

安拓国际全球总裁 Tony Goodwin 表示，有两 个主要原因使我们得以充 分实行这项计划，第一是公 司遍布全球的分支机构，第 二是雄厚的现金储备。■链接 关于白衣骑士计划 作为一个商业术语，“白衣骑士”通常指的是通 过收购、合并来帮助一家有
困难企业的一家集团企业、私人企业或者个人。

Double 10 year Celebration for Antal in China.

BEIJING, China, January 15 2009

This year global managerial recruitment firm Antal International celebrates its tenth anniversary in the China market and plans to continue to strengthen its presence through adding to its existing 120 strong consulting staff in Beijing and Shanghai with the opening of new offices in strategic cities. Antal China which was runner up in the China Recruitment Firm of the year award 2008 (CCH China) first entered the China market in 1989.

Also celebrating is Antal’s China Managing Director, Robert Parkinson who enters his eleventh year with Antal and whose career with the firm has taken him from London on to Amsterdam and then to one of the world’s fastest growing markets, even in today’s economic climate.

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Top company in auto industry, which suffered an important position vacancy- HRD for more than one year, more than 10 people tried this position but stay no more than one month. In the beginning of 2008, they decided to cooperate with our company. With the right recruitment process provided by the professional consultant, it only took one month to help them close the position with a very fit candidate who has been working in this company for nearly 2 years till now, and serves a great help both in the company steady operation and the company structure optimization: She has helped the company recruit lots of competitive staffs at different levels for the healthy development of the company and cultivates some new positions to eliminate abuse of authority. E.g. in the purchasing line, she set up a new position named quality manager to monitor the turnover bonus of the sourcing staff, etc.

For further information please contact CLee@antal.com.cn or telephone +86 10 6410 8866-277

Most fear to even to use the word “depression,” but now is the time for corporate HR to begin thinking about such an eventuality. As most people know, there are two key economic drivers that impact our economy: 1) productivity (product and service output) and 2) employment.

Both government and corporate leaders have under-emphasized the role of the job market in the economic downturn, the time has come that we must consider the real possibility that the job market will move from a recession into a depression.

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China could be the first to recover from the global financial crisis, and will introduce more measures in the next two months to bolster the economy, Premier Wen Jiabao has said.

“Our aim is to be the first to recover from the financial crisis. We must have faith and determination,” Wen said on a tour of export powerhouse Jiangsu province over the weekend.

The government will put forward a series of new measures, which top policymakers are working on, before the annual session of the National People’s Congress that begins on March 5, he said.

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The State Council approved a stimulus package Wednesday to help the steel industry weather the international financial crisis.

The salient features of the package are:

• The government will strictly control the increase in the country’s steel-making capacity and continue closing down low-tech mills.
• It will adopt a flexible tax policy on steel exports to stabilize the country’s share in the global market.
• It will encourage restructuring of steel-makers and cultivate competitive large-scale steel groups.

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China will continue to see more interest cuts throughout 2009 to enhance market fluidity, according to an economic outlook released by Bank of China (BOC) in Beijing on Monday.

The country’s major lender expected the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), or the central bank, to lower the benchmark interest rates of both deposit and credit to 1.44 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.

The benchmark deposit and credit rates now stand at 2.25 percent and 5.31 percent respectively after five cuts within three consecutive months from last September.

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Chinese enterprises that found themselves falling behind the talent rush in the past should take heart from the global economic slowdown as it presents a golden opportunity for them to recruit qualified and experienced executives and professionals from around the world.

Of course, talent doesn’t come cheap, human resources experts say. But it is at least available as more and more US and European multinational companies are going into the retrenchment mode to cut costs.

Human resources experts are of the view that the layoff strategies are”short-sighted” and costly in the longer term. When the economy begins to turn the corner and embark on a new cycle, these corporations will have to offer unusually high salaries and attractive incentives to compete for the talented personnel they laid off.

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Recently, the most earthshaking word filling our ears is financial crisis, when company facing oil price rising, the talent market has been affected in an unprecedented way: headcount freezed, senior position cancelled…… But what hasn’t change in automotive industry is that the rising stars are still in a position to chose. So what we can see from the current market?

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(Sorry, but the answer’s at the end of the article, so please read on!).

The time for pretending is now over. We’re all affected. Times really are unprecedented, and the global economy is predicted by some to be affected for 3 years (as an optimistic prediction). Sir Richard Brandson, Chairman of the UK based Virgin Group was quoted by timesonline.co.uk as saying that [the recession] “might only last a couple of years instead of becoming a repeat of the Great Depression of the 1930s as so many economists now fear”. Oh what joy! – not quite the Q1-2 ’09 blip some thought in September.

So what do you do? What can you control? Who can you control? The answer, it seems to me, is not very much at all. As Thatcher told us all, you can’t fight the market; sticking your head in the sand won’t get you too far, and not changing also isn’t exactly the fast track to success. Really, if you think about it, the only thing that we can control is our behavior, how we think, and what we do and say.

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2008 will be remembered as one of the toughest business environments in modern history. Many CFOs were forced to scramble to keep the business running as credit markets dried up while keeping up with the many other requirements of the job. So it should come as no surprise that turnover in the post hit record highs. The Wall Street Journal reported that in the first seven months of this year, 70 CFOs at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies exited their jobs. But as difficult as 2008 has been, 2009 already has the earmarks of being even more challenging as finance chiefs bear the brunt of the global economic crisis.

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2008-11-27 Prospects for Renewed Employment in China

The global economic downturn having an impact on China’s manufacturing sector.  This, among other factors, has motivated the government here to implement a massive domestic spending package that is designed to try to move the Chinese economy more away from its traditional export driven growth, and fuel increased strength in domestic spending.  In this way, it’s hoped employment will be stabilized.  So in that respect, what exactly are employers out there looking for right now, particularly with the up and coming generation of workers?  And with a new focus on domestic demand, what impact will this have on the private banking sector? 

Click here to listen to Robert Parkinson on China Radio International

Gareth Edwards, Antal International

The Legal Services Team lead by Edwards still focus on international legal service agency positions. However, in order to follow the up coming in-house recruiting plan, Edwards has just hired 5 new professionals who are going to be mainly focusing on the in house recruitment.

Future development In China, multi-national companies are always leading the way on the career path  for in-house legal professionals. However, in the past 5 years, local companies are also expanding  their own legal team.. As local enterprises CEOs are realizing the value lawyers has brought to their business, they start to invest more on their legal department with bigger budget package.

Some of local companies have rapid growth on their own legal department, State owned Enterprises usually have the largest legal department. Sinopec now has 1300 legal stuff, and Zhongtie has more than 500 legal professionals.  With steps on local companies expanding their business overseas, most Legal Directors looking forward to enlarge their department size in the near future. Some of them have even already started cooperation with Recruitment Consulting Firms to locate their legal professionals with international experiences.
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Headhunting companies have become aware of the depression of the market recession. Due to rapid development of China economy, and the huge demand for middle to senior talents, Antal International China office have grown from 6 to 100 consultants. Positions in the company which get monthly salary from 10000 to 20000 RMB only belong to low level in the position reserve. However, from the beginning of this year, banking team—one of their most important growing business, is facing the greatest challenge since entering into China.

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Managing Director China of ANTAL International
Mr. Robert Parkinson

If you are a senior manager in a big company with monthly salary of RMB100, 000, then you might receive a call from a gentleman, “Hello Madam/Sir, we are looking for a senior manager for a fortune 500 company, I am sure you are the rising star candidate with the necessary experiences…”

 This gentleman is Robert Parkinson, who is also the managing director of one of the leading recruitment companies in China, and ANTAL serves the tailed-made recruitment solutions for the Fortune 500 corporations.

As for culture and localization consideration, many multi-national companies prefer recruit senior managers locally. While, ANTAL recruits a young energetic gentleman just 30 years old to manage the big promising Chinese market, and the business mode is more globalized, while less localized.
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Staff layoffs at a number of multinational companies (MNCs) in the country as a result of the worldwide financial crisis should present an opportunity for small and medium-sized domestic enterprises (SMEs) to grab whatever talent they can, according to the head of a global recruitment agency.The SMEs should do so before the MNCs realize the resilience of the Chinese economy and start rehiring sometime next year, said Tony Goodwin, CEO of Antal International.Hiring people now can bring greater long-term benefits than firing, Goodwin told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

Visitors to a recruitment fair in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, read brochures in front of a billboard seeking to hire an CEO with an offer of an annual salary of 2 million yuan. An Xin

In these uncertain times when developed economies, especially the US, are sliding into a recession, corporate executives should think “long-term” in formulating corporate human resources strategies, Goodwin said.

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Robert talked about how to create an environment to retain people; Antal International’s business structure, development strategy, services and also the HR community in China.

Interview by CBN on 2008 China Human Capital Forum, with the topic of influence brought by the new labor law in China.

China Human Capital Forum, with the topic of influence brought by the new labor law in China

Robert talked about the current executive pay trends in China financial industry under the global context.

The logistics service has never been as demanding as today in China. As more and more clients want their items to be delivered to the right people, at the right time, to the right place, logistic giants such as DHL, UPS are facing the fiercest competition in China market. When asked about how will this affect their recruitment plan, Sue Wang, senior consultant of logistic sector says: ”it opens so many great opportunities as well as so many challenges in logistic market.”

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Is the legendary “big four” always should be considered as the key factor in accounting recruitment? As Lilly Cao says:”Big four is a great and necessary background, but that is not all, especially when in-house 500 multi-nationals are recruiting for finical managers who have to know at least four disciplines: accountancy, tax, internal audit and Finance, planning and accounting. So how to identify if the candidates got what you are looking for? What is the ideal career path for an accountant? As the division manager of accounting team, Lilly Cao has the answers for all.

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A war for top investment talent is set to engulf Investment companies across the China Market. Investment Professionals with overseas MBA degrees and related work experiences with strong language skills are currently in exceptionally high demand both from VC, PE firms and multinational corporations. Statistics shows more and more local corporations and MNC in China require the services of many in house M&A and Investment professionals to facilitate business transactions among many other areas.

What does this all mean and what problems does that create?

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Human Resources professionals with multinational company experience and excellent language skills are currently in high demand both from in-house and consulting firm.

Nowadays the HR is more involved and has a more hands on, active role in an organization. Current human resource departments now balance more responsibilities as they also discuss the strategic planning of a business. HR in today’s day and age lead the way in not only making recommendations, but also initiate policy changes. The backbone of any successful company is the HR department, and without a talented group of people to hire, culture, and inform employees, the company is doomed for failure

What does this all mean?

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ANTAL International officially set up ANTAL PHILIPPINES operations in Manila on August 2008.

ANTAL PHILIPPINES maintains a high level of moral integrity that enables us to foster long-term relationships with our clients and create trust in all our dealings. We have a highly articulate, confident and persuasive team that effectively communicates Antal’s vision and services to achieve exceptional business performance for you.

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