Talent shortage According to an article that appeared in South China Morning Post, October 19, 2005 suggested that relatively few of the mainland’s vast number of graduates are capable of working successfully in the services-export sector, and the fast-growing domestic economy absorbs most of those who could. This indicates a serious shortage of local talent, with serious implications for the multinationals now in the mainland and for the growing number of Chinese companies with global ambitions.
Additional to this shortage, only a few have the foreign language skills, cultural fit or practical education necessary to work in a foreign or a multinational company in occupations such as engineering, finance and accounting, quantitative analysis and support.
The specific reasons vary by occupation: Poor English, overall communication style, cultural fit and the education is generally biased towards theory, and they get little practical experience in projects or teamwork. As a result, despite the numbers the pool of young engineers considered suitable for work in multinationals is sustainably low.
Multinational companies in China could face a talent shortage in key service professions and managerial occupations. This represents a major problem for multinationals in mainland China, for mainland companies and, indeed, for the nation’s economic future if it aims to move beyond labor-intensive manufacturing and into higher-value service industries.
