Job applicants swarm overseas hiring drive

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, Nov. 11 -- Shanghai financial institutions were swarmed with 10 times more applications than offers in a joint recruitment drive this month in the United Kingdom and the United States, an organizer said yesterday.

The global financial tsunami has presented a wonderful opportunity for financial institutions in the city to snare experienced and talented professionals who are being laid off by their employers, some of whom are renowned and iconic names in the industry.

A total of 2,176 applicants applied for vacancies in 27 financial institutions, which include banks, brokerages, fund, trust and asset management firms, operating in Shanghai, far beyond the 170-plus openings, the Shanghai Financial Services Office said yesterday.

Out of the total applicants, 12 percent are expatriates, some of whom are still employed but interested to work in Shanghai. Some foreigners who were laid off are also trying to seek a new start in Shanghai. About 3 percent of applicants are from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese make up the lion's share of applicants. About 840 applicants indicated early on they were keen to work in Shanghai after discussing terms and conditions like salary and job responsibilities.

Applicants were told that they could expect a maximum annual salary of 1.5 million yuan (219,394 U.S. dollars) and other positions offer 200,000 yuan to 400,000 yuan in annual pay.

One company which thinks it has been worthwhile to go on the joint hiring drive is China UnionPay Co. Its human resource head Lu Hong said the results were better than the firm's own previous overseas hiring efforts.

"The response is much better than what we expected this time," Lu said. The company received more than 400 applicants for its 11 vacancies.

Zhou Bin, general manager of the human resource department of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, said the company offers 10 vacancies with annual salary of up to 1 million yuan.

The joint recruitment drive was held in London, Chicago and New York between December 5 and 14.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)