Chinese job market like 1960s in Europe?

[Scoobyqueen]

A chinese friend of mine quit her job as a successful sales manager at an international company. She wanted to look for new opportunities and moved away from Beijing with her husband who has his own career. She had consulted with a few people about this decision and we all advised against her giving up her current job due to her leaving a gap in her cv.

[skylee]

#1 has reminded me of the saying of 人求事 and 事求人. Perhaps it is a time of 事求人 (in some fields) in Mainland China.

The office next to mine keeps recruiting people. My understanding is that the work there is hard (long hours, complicated issues, etc) and people tend to resign easily. But people would not quit so easily if there are no jobs out there.

[carlo]

Generally speaking there is still excess demand of qualified and capable local managers — you simply cannot find them, and when you do find them, they’ll ask for large salary increases or leave right after they become irreplaceable. It’s a big headache for employers. The qualifiers are important though — qualified and capable.

I think it’s not China’s job market that is exceptional — it’s the European situation that is very 糟糕. There are too many people with comparable skill sets (excess supply), and costs are unsustainably high compared to shrinking margins.

[roddy]

If she's already a successful sales manager at an international company, then she's completely unrepresentative of the general population. She's got, I'd imagine, a decent amount of security, maybe in the form of property, savings and a husband willing and able to support her. She's also got a background which will put her at the top of shortlists for a whole range of jobs. If you're in that situation, how the wider economy is doing is a much less pressing concern - there are always SOME jobs, and SOMEONE is always going to get them. You have a decent chance of being that someone, and you can afford to wait. And the Chinese economy is actually doing pretty well, thank you.

Now, compare that with your other friend (you're not trying to draw conclusions about the wider Chinese economy on the basis of what one friend has told you, are you? You need at least two), who is an accounts clerk for a Chinese company in a provincial city, married to a middle school teacher, with large mortgage payments and school costs to worry about. You're not going to chisel her out of her job, because she can't be sure when she'd get another one, and she can't afford to be out of work.

[Scoobyqueen]

Yes I mean career people and my question was about this segment. Even with her background doing what she did would look strange on a cv in Europe. You are often dependent on being in a successful job to get the next. My point is this does not seem to be a major issue in this case. But it is probably just a one off.

[Guest realmayo]

I have come across people who have had to compromise on salary simply as a result of not being in a job at the time of being offered one (and needing one).

This is just a function of needing to find a job quickly, right? I mean, it's not the fact you've taken time off per se that causes problems. There will always be job markets where demand for experienced people outstrips supply, and employers don't mind if you have taken time away. I suppose it's possible that that's currently far more prevalent in China?

[roddy]

To be honest, given that a very common complaint of international companies recruiting Chinese staff is a lack of initiative and independence, taking a stretch of time off to do your own thing could well be a CV booster. Depends what you do, as well. Six months doing nothing looks odd, six months variously trekking across the Sahara for charity, tutoring disadvantaged kids at the local school and teaching yourself an extra language is a different story.

[frankwall]

Generally, it is a very bad idea to give up a successful job like that. Still, sales can be very very stressful and result in a burnout. If it was for health reasons or something, it would be very much understandable. However, giving it up to follow her husband would be a bad strategy in my opinion. Still, looking at statistics, unemployment is quite low in China right now. I guess she will more than likely find a new job relatively fast.