Author | yinting hou
Edit |Liu Jingfeng.
Now overseas headhunters are quite popular", "I started to memorize words", "Now everyone is starting to do overseas"...Recently, headhunters have discussed in WeChat groups that overseas Chinese companies have more and more open HC (i.e., headcount, recruitment quotas), and from Southeast Asia to North America, the market demand has increased significantly, and more headhunters have begun to turn to overseas markets.
Xiaguang Club exclusively learned that Liepin big data statistics show thatIn January 2023 and November, overseas jobs increased by 41 percent year-on-year71%, and the overseas positions posted by headhunters increased by 34% year-on-year01%, the number of job seekers who applied for overseas positions increased by 92% year-on-year87%。
Chen Jing, director of global recruiting at CGL Dezhu Group, a talent chain company, told Xiaguang Agency, "[Overseas positions] are indeed increasing. We have done an internal statistic that the demand for overseas recruitment in 2022 increased by 30% compared to 2021, and in 2023 it increased by 40% compared to 2022. ”
There are more and more Chinese companies going overseas, and players in various tracks are flocking to the world to find more incremental markets. Taking the automotive industry as an example, in the first seven months of this year, China's automobile exports were 25330,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 679%。As Chinese companies continue to "evolve" overseas, the demand for talent is expanding, creating a new market for the headhunting industry.
Cairo Highway, Egypt. Source: Courtesy of Jessica.
At the same time, the enthusiasm of talents to go overseas has also been driven. According to the "2023 Trend Insights for Professionals Going Overseas" released by FutureFree, professionals show greater interest in overseas work, and respondents engaged in procurement, products, and sales have higher intentions to go overseas than the average, and the proportion of people considering going overseas is as follows. 4%。
Chinese companies are creating larger markets overseas, attracting headhunters and talents to set their sights on the world.
At present, overseas recruitment is in short supplyI have to turn down several customers every month because I have too many orders to do。Chen Jing said that there is more and more demand for overseas recruitment, and the team has expanded this year.
In 2018, he started CGL's overseas recruitment business, and at that time, his main business was to recruit talents from overseas to China. For example, recruit some design experts for domestic car companies. "Since 2019, we will find an obvious trend, that is, more and more Chinese companies are going out, so from 2019 to now, the main focus of our overseas recruitment business has been to serve Chinese enterprises to go overseas. ”
Chen Jing's team mainly focuses on overseas markets such as Southeast Asia, Europe, America, the Middle East, Latin America and other regions, helping Chinese companies recruit the high-end talents they need, including locals and local Chinese.
Streets of Malaysia. Source: Courtesy of Zhouzhou.
He introduced several tracks that are currently hot. The first is the game industry, "the domestic Internet industry has almost no room for growth, but overseas, the direction of games is still growing rapidly, in Southeast Asia and Latin America, because of the large population base and low customer acquisition costs, Chinese games are very popular and have high profit margins." ”
The second is the consumer electronics industry, mainly smart small household appliances, exported to the European and American markets, with a high unit price; the third is the social entertainment industry, such as social apps, short platforms, etc.; The fourth is the automotive and new energy fields, including photovoltaics, energy storage and other industries, "This year, China has become the world's largest automobile exporter. ”
Yang Xianhua, co-founder of Soniu Technology, told Xiaguang that overseas recruitment is also one of the company's main businesses. Since the beginning of this year, he has also felt similarly, and overseas job recruitment has increased, especially in new energy, new retail, engineering equipment and other industries.
As early as 2015, he entered the headhunting industry and began to contact the first batch of Internet companies such as Cheetah Mobile and Kunlun Wanwei, and in 2017 and 2018, mainly finance, travel, live broadcast and other businesses went to Southeast Asia, copying the mature domestic gameplay overseas.
In 2019, going overseas has become more lively, cross-border e-commerce has exploded, and various upstream and downstream companies such as payment companies have gone overseas, bringing all kinds of new jobs. In 2019, Yang Xianhua started a headhunting company, serving Chinese enterprises going overseas, including traditional engineering equipment enterprises, emerging industry enterprises such as communications, automobiles, and new energy, as well as new retail enterprises such as clothing, mother and child, consumer electronics, and tea.
Eric, a recruiter at the Beijing office of the social entertainment company Mico World, told Xiaguang that the number of overseas operations in various regions of the world has been increasing in the past two years, and at the same time, with the continuous deepening of international business, it will also send Chinese HRBP, legal BP, and financial BP to local companies.
In the past two years, more and more Chinese enterprises have shifted their focus overseas, and the field of Internet pan-entertainment is more obvious, and many social, live broadcast and game companies are also going overseas. He pointed out that the domestic demand of many major Internet companies is shrinking, but they will open up jobs to overseas branches.
On the streets of Cairo, Egypt. Source: Courtesy of Jessica.
For example, an industry insider revealed to Xiaguang that Meituan is recruiting R&D personnel for overseas operations. According to the latest news, after the launch of the food delivery platform Keeta in Hong Kong, Meituan intends to acquire foodpanda's food delivery business and expand the food delivery business to Southeast Asia.
According to the 2022 Statistical Communiqué on China's Outward Direct Investment jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, at the end of 2022A total of 190 countries and regions around the world have been set up by Chinese domestic investors470,000, nearly 60% are distributed in Asia, 13% in North America, and 10% in Europe2%。Among them, the establishment of overseas enterprises in the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative160,000.
The Gazette showsAt the end of 2022, the total number of employees of overseas enterprises exceeded 4.1 million, of which nearly 2.5 million were foreign employees and about 1.6 million were Chinese。In comparison, at the end of 2021, the total number of employees of overseas enterprises was 3.95 million, of which nearly 239 were employed by foreign employees40,000 people.
In many fields, Chinese enterprises going overseas have passed the "0 1" stage, and with the in-depth development of overseas markets, the demand for talents of Chinese enterprises is also evolving.
Chen Jing said that from the perspective of the recruitment needs of overseas Chinese enterprises, 50% and 60% are sales-oriented positions, "The first step for Chinese enterprises to go overseas is to recruit sales locally to achieve local self-financing." ”
Once you have a local sales team, the next step is to hire a country manager to manage the sales team while handling multiple aspects such as local compliance, relationships, and more. After the company grows, various functional personnel such as human resources administration, finance, legal affairs, public relations, etc., will also be generated, which accounts for about 20%. Chen Jing said.
Judging from the composition of Chinese and foreign employees employed, he pointed outAt present, 70% of the overseas job requests received are locals, 80% are locals, and 20% are local Chinese。Enterprises may also send employees from home and abroad to the local area, which accounts for less than 10%, and most of them are recruited by the company's HR, and do not entrust headhunters.
Hiring overseas is not easy. Chen Jing pointed out that many Chinese companies lack understanding of overseas markets, and the talent portraits required may not be matched overseas, "Overseas markets are very different from those in China, and he may require five conditions, but there are no talents who fully meet these conditions overseas." We can only help find people with three of these conditions, let the customer communicate, interview, help him understand the market, and adjust the needs. ”
"For example, in the United States, salary and age cannot be asked, which will violate local laws and regulations. Therefore, Chen Jing's team will remind customers of risks, such as points to pay attention to when interviewing Americans, and questions to pay attention to when interviewing Germans.
In the candidate port, foreign talents will also not adapt to the various systems and cultures of Chinese enterprises, "Generally, the candidates we look for are veterans in the industry, and their work ability is beyond doubt. However, there are two major challenges for candidates to enter Chinese enterprises: first, the strategic planning of Chinese enterprises changes rapidly and will be quickly adjusted according to market conditions, such as adjusting the plan every quarter, while foreign companies are generally relatively stable, and the plan will only change in one or even three years; Second, Chinese enterprises have a strong result-oriented, while Europeans and Americans pay more attention to process compliance, and there will be great contradictions here. Chen Jing said.
Yang Xianhua also pointed out that compared with domestic recruitment, overseas recruitment is less controllable, "There is also fierce competition in overseas markets, coupled with policy risks, the project may change greatly, and it will be withdrawn if it is not easy to do." ”
Eric, who is mainly responsible for recruiting for expatriate positions, admits that it is difficult to recruit people now. He mainly recruits some overseas operations and sales personnel, and when it comes to the national head level talents, it will be more difficult to recruit.
First, there are not many successful companies in the vertical industry, and there are few talents; Second, Mike has higher requirements for expatriate employees. ”
He pointed out that there are few people who can be sent from home and abroad, for example, for overseas operation positions, only 1 or 2 of the 10 people recruited are from domestic experience backgrounds. "Relatively speaking, people with study abroad experience or expatriate experience will be more suitable. People who do not have experience abroad are at higher risk of loss, especially if they go to places with a high degree of hardship, such as Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa, and may not be able to adapt. ”
The cost of expatriate talents is also higher, especially for mature Chinese enterprises going overseas, whose salaries are higher than those of domestic companies, and will also be given better subsidies and benefits.
Eric said that there are several major parts of the compensation and benefits policy. For example, Egypt's daily dispatch allowance is $140, compared to Southeast Asia, it may drop to about $100; The second is the guarantee of food, clothing, housing and transportation, especially in difficult areas, there will be Chinese enterprise parks, staff dormitories, canteens, and complete security; The third is compliance and health, such as applying for local work visas for expatriates and obtaining local medical insurance, "We Chinese expatriates in Egypt can find locals to accompany them to the hospital one-on-one, and the expenses can also be reimbursed." ”
In addition to the above-mentioned guarantees, employees who have been dispatched for more than half a year can also enjoy the benefits of accompanying or visiting relatives in China, such as reimbursement of round-trip air tickets and living allowances for accompanying family members.
In 2021, Eric found that it was very difficult to recruit overseas, and there may not be a single person hired for three or four months, but in 2022 it began to improve, especially for those who stayed overseas. Since the beginning of this year, the haze of the global epidemic has passed, and overseas recruitment is much easier than in the previous two years.
On the one hand, the policy has been liberalized, and on the other hand, the competition for domestic employment is too great, and it is difficult for young people to find good development opportunities. "He found that this is a trend, for example, fresh graduates or young people who have graduated for a year or two participate in the school recruitment of Internet companies in Beijing, with a salary of about 10,000 yuan a month, which is not low compared to many industry positions, but after deducting various living costs such as rent and food, it is impossible to save money," he saidIf you go overseas, your salary will be doubled, and there will be a subsidy.
The most important thing is that the overseas market is vast and there are more opportunities. A set of domestic playing methods has reached overseas, especially in less developed areas, and there are some 'dimensionality reduction' strikes, which make it easier to produce things. Relative to the fierce competition in the country,The ceiling in foreign markets is still very high, and it is more likely to see results and results.
In addition to the "Nuggets", the vast overseas market has also created more room for young people to be promoted. More young people are willing to go to sea.
In February this year, Jessica joined the Egyptian branch of a Chinese Internet company as an HR, mainly assisting in building and improving the branch's human resources system. She told Xiaguang News that after graduating in 2019, she stayed in China for half a year, and then went to work in Egypt through expatriation, and it has been nearly 4 years.
Jessica studied for her undergraduate degree in the United States and then her master's degree in Europe, and has adapted to life in a different country during her study abroad. In the year she graduated, she was given the opportunity to be sent to Huawei as an HR officer in Egypt. Last year, she also went to work for a period of time at Huawei's subsidiaries in Mexico and Algeria.
As a leading company in Egypt, Huawei has a large scale in Egypt, a well-defined organizational structure, and clear job responsibilities. "Even if you don't speak English, you can live well under Huawei. I deal with the Chinese side at work, and I stay with my colleagues in life. She said that Huawei has a complete range of guarantees, including parks in some difficult areas such as Algeria, with canteens, dormitories, gyms, sports fields, etc., and the daily life of expatriate employees is almost the same as in China.
Jessica chose to switch to a new company because she wanted to try more diverse work contents, "Huawei's system is complete, the framework is fixed, modular, and only needs to be executed locally. The new company is different, I can do a lot of things, such as the performance appraisal policy issued by the headquarters, we need to adjust and formulate relevant content according to the local culture and situation, and the local team can 'take the lead' in the business. ”
In Egypt, there are fewer recreational activities in daily life, there are few places to consume, and more money is saved, "The staff dormitory is a 10-minute walk to the company, and transportation does not cost money; There is a canteen for eating, and the canteen is not open on weekends, and you can also be reimbursed if you go to the restaurant; It's inconvenient to shop online, and I don't buy it over time. ”
Cafe in Cairo, Egypt. Source: Courtesy of Jessica.
Sometimes interacting with colleagues who are on a business trip to Egypt, Jessica discoversMany people want to have expatriate opportunities, first, the industry has prospects, and there are many opportunities in the Middle East; Second, there are good subsidies. "Especially now that the Egyptian pound is depreciating, the yuan earned is equivalent to appreciation. ”
Unlike Jessica, who was overseas from studying to working, Cathy joined a well-known mobile phone company in China in 2021 and was sent abroad.
Previously, Cathy worked in the domestic mobile phone industry for three years, mainly engaged in product direction positions, last year she wanted to transfer to the sales direction, so she chose to change jobs, and got different offers at home and abroad.
I used to focus on the global market when I did product planning, and I found that the domestic competition was too fierce, and everyone's share was fixed, so it was difficult to make a breakthrough, and the overseas space was larger. In contrast, she decided to choose the opportunity to go to sea, the overseas space is broader, and for individuals, she can also experience overseas life, and the remuneration is more generous.
From the second half of 2021 to October 2022, Cathy was working in the Indian market, but because she couldn't get a visa, she was never able to go there, so she could only stay in closer South Asian countries. After returning to China last year, she learned that there were vacancies in the European market and applied for a transfer.
India is very similar to China five years ago, and its business style is very similar to China, but now the mobile phone market is also close to saturation, and the brand share is fixed, and it is difficult to grow. But in Europe, there are opportunities for growth. ”
She pointed out that Xiaomi's success in the European market is a case, and there is still room for Chinese brands in the European market, "First, there are many European countries, and the place is not large, but every time you enter a country, it is a new market of '0 1';Second, the consumption power of the general public in Europe is not high, and they need cost-effective mobile phones. ”
In overseas branches, the working hours are not as long as in China, "In China, I used to work overtime until 10 o'clock in the evening every day, but now I can get off work at 6 o'clock, and I have a lot of time for myself." "But abroad, it can also create feelings of loneliness.
Some colleagues said that they were tired of playing games and tired of watching dramas. If you don't adapt well, you will feel lonely because you have too much free time. But she doesn't like "internal friction", and since she chooses this kind of life, she learns to enjoy it. In Europe, she travels at least once a month to create a sense of freshness in her life, "go swimming, play ball, go shopping, read books, enrich your life, and have a healthier mentality." ”
Italian landscape. Source: Courtesy of Cathy.
For Zhouzhou, an expatriate employee of a central enterprise,Working overseas allowed her not to give up her architectural ideals and retain the feelings of her student days. "I'm one of the few people who is still in my major. When I graduated from my bachelor's degree, I still had classmates to do engineering, but after graduating with a master's degree, I basically didn't have it. After graduating from a master's degree in engineering management from one of the "Old Eight Architecture Schools", she was sent to Malaysia in 2021.
"Central enterprises have been going overseas since 1978, and international projects have been developed overseas for more than 40 years. She said that the company has built an independent park in Malaysia, with complete living facilities, KTV, chess and card rooms, and gyms, so that you can meet your daily needs without leaving the park.
Zhou Zhou told Xiaguang News that in general, the salary level of expatriates is 15 2 times. Because of the free room and board and low personal expenses, she can save 60% and 70% of her income every month.
However, compared with Jessica and Cathy, because of the particularity of the project, she has to work 6 days a week, whether it is a local holiday or a Chinese holiday, the Chinese employees do not take holidays, "There are no holidays every day, but they can take 40 days off every year." I didn't take any vacation for the first two years, but this year I went back to my country twice for a total of two months. ”
Eric sums up the appeal of overseas to young people,"The first is the material basisYou may not be able to buy a house in China for three or five years, but if you are overseas for three or five years, you basically have the ability to buy a house. The second is development opportunitiesOverseas markets are less competitive, and young people have more opportunities to be promoted, for example, some graduates go to Africa and stay for 1 or 3 years, they may be in charge of a country (branch), and then they can be in charge of an entire region. ”
As Chinese enterprises accelerate their overseas expansion, there is an increasing demand for global talents.
According to the statistics of Liepin big data, from January to October 2023, a total of 9,000+ companies will newly release 50,000+ overseas positions, with Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou, etc. ranking in the forefront. “Overseas sales and customer service are the first to be recruited, which is also an indispensable position for most companies to do business in various countries, as well as positions in the human resources, administration, finance, and legal departments that are indispensable for further business expansion.
However, Chinese enterprises of different natures, industries and stages of development have different requirements for talents, which is also one of the challenges that must be experienced when going global.
Chen Jing said that in 2020 and before, the Internet industry and the mobile phone industry are hot, and the head manufacturers have basically spread their tentacles all over the world, such as mobile phone companies Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO, and Honor have branches in various places, and their development has entered a steady stage.
Automobiles and new energy are new markets that have emerged in the past two years, and "the main forces going overseas in recent years are some innovative fields and start-up companies. ”
Eric notedCompanies at different stages of going overseas have different talent structures. "In the very early days, almost all companies recruited Chinese, sent Chinese at home and abroad or recruited Chinese locally, and recruited foreigners mainly to do basic executive work; At a certain stage of development, after a certain scale is formed in the local area, the local team will be larger, and the local will be promoted as leaders, but the management or decision-making level will still be Chinese employees. ”
Mico World has been going overseas for nearly 10 years, with a high degree of localization, and the ratio of foreign employees to Chinese employees is about 10:1. Unlike many Chinese companies, the Chinese management will also go deep into the first-tier market and participate in the implementation of the work.
Eric said that Chinese companies such as OPPO and vivo have slowly developed to adopt the local management model, and Chinese employees are only management, "In addition to TikTok, overseas Chinese companies are not mature enough to directly hire local CEOs or country managers, and the core management is still Chinese." ”
Chen Jing also saidAt present, the Chinese enterprises that we have come into contact with going overseas will choose the trusted Chinese to play the role of "No. 1". "After exploring Chinese enterprises, we found that only Chinese people can understand the culture of Chinese enterprises, and if the No. 1 position is a foreigner, it is easy to conflict with the headquarters, such as national managers and other positions must use Chinese. ”
In addition to the selection of Chinese for management, some functional positions for internal communication will also choose to recruit overseas Chinese or expatriate Chinese, such as HR and finance. "The more sales recruit locals, the more local faces and fluent local languages, the better you can open up the local market. In addition, local people are also hired for functional positions such as external communication, marketing, and public relations. ”
Chen Jing once served a overseas car company, and when she went to Germany to build a team, she hired a local German as HR, but there was a great contradiction.
This HR also worked in a large German car company before and was relatively senior, but after joining the company, the culture was quite different. He wants to do a good job of employee care and employer branding according to German regulations, such as the 30-day annual leave system, and also wants to influence the Chinese headquarters to change. However, in the eyes of the Chinese headquarters, Germany is a start-up team, and there is no way to give favorable conditions, so it must first make market achievements. "In the end, the German branch was divided into two factions, and the German team and the Chinese team did not communicate with each other, and cooperation could not be carried out.
To this end, Chen Jing helped the company recruit a Chinese HR, and he communicated a lot with the teams on both sides to resolve the conflict between the Chinese team and the German team, "We recruited a Chinese who grew up in China, studied and worked in Germany, he has been in Chinese companies and German companies, and he has a good understanding of both cultures. Only then did we slowly bridge the contradictions caused by cultural differences.
Street view of Poland. Source: Courtesy of Cathy.
Previously, when Cathy was working in the Indian market, as a first-line sales role, directly communicating with local customers. In the European market, she transitioned to the role of regional manager, carrying out overall strategic planning, mainly communicating with country managers in European countries.
Cathy pointed out that in overseas mobile phone companies, managers must be Chinese employees, such as national managers are all Chinese, "I don't see foreign nationals in the national managers of Chinese companies, but the front-line executives are basically locals." ”
In addition, judging from the stage of most Chinese enterprises going overseas, the number of domestic and foreign employees is decreasing, "Enterprises may send out old employees who are very familiar with the company's internal operation mode and culture, and rarely send a new employee out, because they do not understand the company's internal culture or the overseas market." "In view of this, overseas Chinese companies are more inclined to recruit local Chinese directly.
In emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, due to the maturity of China's Internet technology, Chinese Internet companies going overseas will choose to recruit domestic technical experts to quickly expand their local teams. For example, Shopee, an e-commerce company owned by Singapore's Internet conglomerate SEA, has hired a large number of Chinese programmers at its headquarters in Singapore.
Chen Jing said that it is more difficult to recruit Chinese overseas than to recruit locals, and overseas Chinese are "too popular", "because there are too many Chinese companies going overseas now, many local Chinese can receive five or six companies to invite interviews, and Chinese companies going overseas are competing for this batch of talents." Therefore, he notedThe salaries of overseas Chinese are also "very high", exceeding the salary level of the locals.
Jessica, Cathy, and Zhouzhou all told Xiaguang that they will continue to work overseas. Jessica admits, "I think I've already gone overseas, and if my next job is overseas, I can accept it." If there is a better opportunity in China, I will return to China, or depending on the opportunity itself. ”
No matter where I go, I'm feeling, I'm experiencing, and if there's a good place, I'll try to stay there, but there's a good chance I'll go back home. Jessica told the Xiaguang Society.
Eric, Jessica, Cathy, and Zhouzhou are pseudonyms in the article.