2019 Chongqing Talents Conference will be held from Nov 9 to 10 at Yuelai International Convention Center. The conference aims to showcase the opening policies in the labor market and development environment. Recently, iChongqing has conducted interview series with foreign companies in Chongqing to discover their insights on talents and human resource situations in the local labor market.

Labour force is satisfied currently

Dominik Widmer, Vice-Chairman Southwest China of European Union Chamber of Commerce, and a representative from Hankook Tire (Chongqing) HR department have dialogues with iChongqing.

Dominik Widmer, Vice-Chairman Southwest China of European Union Chamber of Commerce

“There is a great variety throughout all industries when it comes to what kind of soft talents European businesses in Chongqing need. It goes from local junior staff to experienced senior staff, up to foreign Experts” said Mr. Widmer, he expressed that Chongqing government has launched policies the ninth round of the Hongyan Plan, or the 'Top 100 High-level Overseas Talent Plan', to attract skilled workers from other parts of China and overseas. This initiative aims at increasing opportunities in Chongqing’s human resource market. In terms of Mr. Widmer`s insights, locating and hiring local junior staff is not a significant challenge for European companies as Chongqing is home to several well-regarded universities that see thousands of well-educated students graduate each year.

Hankook tire in motorsports

Hankook Tire is a manufacturing enterprise, the demand for talents is mainly ordinary workers in mechanical engineering of secondary technical colleges, as well as mechanical and electrical integration equipment maintenance workers of colleges and above, and technicians related to mechanical manufacturing processes of an undergraduate degree and above. At this stage, the demand for talents can basically be satisfied. To be able to recruit talents in a wide range and effectively, Hankook has expanded channels for talent recruitment, such as actively carrying out school-enterprise cooperation, online and offline promotion of talent market recruitment, and internal recommendation of our employees. At the same time, Hankook is also looking forward to the forthcoming Chongqing Talents Conference. Thanks to the Chongqing Municipal Government for bringing such talent exchange opportunities to local enterprises.

SK Hynix Semiconductor( Chongqing) Co.,Ltd’s main business involves in probe testing, packaging, and module assembly. Core technique professionals with good foreign language skills are the ones the company has been seeking for. Besides the language professionals supplied by Sichuan International Studies University and Chongqing Nanfang Translators College of SISU, with the support of the government, SK Hynix also develops long-term strategic cooperation with universities and colleagues to develop technique professionals the semiconductor industry need. Here are some examples. It sets up a scholarship in Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications to support the outstanding students from poor families to finish their study and attracts them to join SK after graduation. SK Hynix has also established long term cooperation with technique schools and colleges to train the professionals. With the cooperation with universities and colleges in Chongqing, the supply of preferred professionals  

Suggestions: policy relaxation and a better environment

According to Mr. Widmer, the Hongyan Plan is an outstanding policy that renewed in recent years, though there is a limited qualification. Mr. Widmer suggests a relaxation of the policy by some requirements to better suit overseas talents. Besides, he indicated that finding experienced staff with unique expertise or a combination of high-demand skills, such as advanced English, sales, and engineering abilities, is often difficult. One reason for the limited availability of high-level employees is the relatively low salaries in Chongqing. Looking at the average monthly wage for scientific research and technical services, professionals earn CNY 50,067 in Chongqing, which is only 71 percent of what they could obtain in Guangdong (CNY 70,709) or 66 percent of what they could make in Beijing (CNY 75,227).

The representative form Hankook said that it is recommended to strengthen the connection between the supply of skilled talents and the industrial demand in the aspect of talent training and give priority to advanced manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, modern service industries, and other industries. In addition, extensively developing vocational skills training for enterprises with needs is important too. Incentive guidance and supervision services work mechanism, gather all aspects to participate in, and support vocational skills training at a large scale is needed to form a strong synergy. Fostering several innovative and entrepreneurial bases and creating a suitable environment for outstanding talents to stay in Chongqing.

The representative from SK Hynix(Chongqing) hopes that the Chongqing municipal government can enhance the training for the group with lower education background to develop professional skills and help them upgrade their education experience. It is suggested that more investment should go to key universities and colleges to keep the high-end professionals. Also more employment guidance and training need be carried out among residents.