Foreign-invested companies losing luster for Chinese graduates

BEIJING - Employment reports released in late July and August by human resource companies ChinaHR.com and Horizon Research Consultancy Group indicate that State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are now the most attractive employers for Chinese university graduates, leaving behind foreign-invested companies. The considerable salaries and full welfare packages once offered by foreign-invested companies to attract talent have gradually been made obsolete as private Chinese companies offer similar incentives - and recent Chinese graduates value hukou (China’s household registration) more than ever, which SOEs can provide and foreign-invested companies cannot.

Despite this, Ma Ying, head of talent acquisition for the Human Resources Department of Siemens China, believes creative solutions are available to foreign companies willing to invest in Chinese workers. Siemens hosts programmes for current students, including a summer camp for interns, meant both to prepare them for their careers and to introduce them to the corporate climate of multinational companies.