Archives July 2007

Shanghai creates 443,000 new jobs in first half

SHANGHAI has created 443,000 new jobs by the end of June this year, fulfilling 88.6 percent of the city’s yearly target of 500,000 positions.

More than 20,000 people so far have found jobs through a Full Employment Community program in 23 neighborhoods in Pudong New Area this year, the Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau announced yesterday.

The program, the first of its kind in Shanghai, grants that at least one person in each household is employed. Meanwhile, those between the ages of 40 and 50, who usually find it hard to get jobs, have been offered training programs, job opportunities as well as applications for insurance and subsidies, Jiefang Daily reported today.

The bureau launched a work loan policy in April to encourage self employment, a way to relieve unemployment pressure.

The bureau said it would offer loan guarantees of up to 500,000 yuan (US$66,050) to people starting their own businesses. The loan would be interest-free if paid back in time, the report said.

In the city’s suburbs, more than 5,000 newly-established labor organizations have created 15,000 jobs in the first half of this year, the report said.

The bureau also set up an employment promotion coalition with companies. The eyeglasses and watch repairer Sanlian Group is among the participants aiming to provide more jobs and intern opportunities for unemployed youth.

More than 14,000 young people, mostly vocational graduates, have registered to take internships with these companies, an increase of 162 percent from last year. Sixty percent of these people were hired after internships, the report said.

The government said in March that it planned to keep the registered unemployment rate below 4.5 percent this year,

But the employment situation looks grim as more than 143,000 students will graduate from colleges and universities in the city this year, an 11 percent increase from last year, which should add to job market pressure.

Tsinghua Univ. to recruit 134 int’l teachers

China’s prestigious Tsinghua University will recruit 134 teachers worldwide, the Beijing News reported here Sunday.

Tsinghua will recruit 49 professors or researchers and 85 associate professors and researchers, the paper quoted the sources from the University as saying.

“We will strictly verify recommendation letters, theses and other related information submitted by applicants to root out academic fraud,” said an official in charge of personnel affairs of the university.

Tsinghua required the applicants from out of Tsinghua to submit at least five theses, and overseas applicants to submit at least three recommendation letters.

In March 2006, Liu Hui, a professor was removed from his post for fabricating his academic achievements and work experience.

Currently, Tsinghua encourages professors and associate professors from both in and out of Tsinghua to compete for the academic posts available each year as part of its reforms of existing teachers’ employment system.

The recruitment will be terminated on October 10 and the final results will be unveiled by the end of December, university sources said.

S&P raises outlook on China to positive from stable

Moody’s lifts China’s ratings a notch, citing strong external-payments position
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
Last Update: 11:35 AM ET Jul 26, 2007

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Standard & Poor’s raised its outlook on China to positive from stable, citing the country’s reforms in bankruptcy, property, and labor laws this year.

“These reforms should underpin a high-single-digit trend rate of growth in China and at the same time improve the productivity of investment, thereby reducing the risks of unduly large fluctuations in growth,” S&P credit analyst Kim Eng Tan said in a statement Thursday.

S&P doesn’t expect any material disruptions between China and the U.S., its largest trading partner, despite rising protectionist attitudes in Congress. S&P affirmed its A long-term and A-1 short-term sovereign credit ratings on China.

“The ratings on China could rise if its leadership embraces market-based policies more readily, or if the government strengthened public finances further,” Tan said.

The ratings-outlook revision by S&P comes after Moody’s upgraded China’s long-term foreign-currency bonds to A1 from A2 Thursday. Moody’s cited the exceptional strength of China’s external-payments position, favorable government debt trends, and continued progress in economic reform.

“China’s very strong external-payments position provides insulation from external shocks and allows the authorities time to expand and deepen structural reform,” Moody’s Senior Vice President Tom Byrne said in a statement.

“Official foreign-exchange reserves continue to grow and now exceed $1.3 trillion, and external obligations of the government and state-owned banks are a small fraction of that sum,” Byrne said.

China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 0.5% to a record finish of 4,346.46 Thursday. The Dow Jones China 88 index, a measure of 88 highly liquid stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, rose 0.6% to 374.62. See Asia Markets.

51job, Inc. and Japan’s Recruit Announce Cooperation Agreement to Establish Coupon Advertising Company in China

SHANGHAI, China, July 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — 51job, Inc. (Nasdaq: JOBS), a leading provider of integrated human resource services in China, and Recruit Co., Ltd., a leading information services company in Japan serving businesses and consumers in numerous market segments, including human resource services, real estate and automobiles, announced today a cooperation agreement to establish a new company focused on providing coupon advertising services in China.

Independently incorporated, this new coupon advertising company will benefit from 51job’s distribution expertise and leverage Recruit’s deep product knowledge to help local businesses to tap into the rapidly growing consumer market in China. 51job operates 23 editions of 51job Weekly and distributes several million copies each week throughout China. A recognized market leader in the printing and distribution of free coupon magazines, Recruit publishes Hot Pepper, which was launched in 2001 and has expanded to 49 area-specific editions in Japan today.

“Combining our companies’ strengths and experiences, we believe the new coupon company will provide a compelling and targeted advertising solution for businesses as well as an effective information channel for consumers in China,” said Rick Yan, President and Chief Executive Officer of 51job.

Official: Chinese Labor Disputes on Rise

Chinese Official Says ‘Mass Incidents’ Involving Labor Disputes on the Rise

BEIJING (AP) — “Mass incidents” by workers have been on the rise in China as they struggle to protect their rights amid a roaring, fast-changing economy, a senior national legislature official was quoted as saying in state media.

Yang Jingyu, chairman of the Law Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday as saying the number of labor disputes had increased by more than 13 times between 1995 and 2006.

He did not give any figures or examples, and did not define what constituted a mass incident.

China’s communist leaders have been struggling with a widening wealth gap as the country’s economy takes off, with urban areas and workers reaping vastly more benefits from economic reforms than rural workers.

“With accelerating industrialization and urbanization in China, infringement on employees’ rights are occurring frequently,” Yang was quoted as saying.

Yang said only 20 percent of small and medium-sized companies and private companies have signed labor contracts with their employees.

More than half of employers offer only short-term contracts to keep down costs.

“These problems have made it very difficult for the employees to protect their lawful rights,” Yang said.

AstraZeneca Cuts Worldwide Workforce 10% While Investing in China

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN – News) will cut its workforce by 10% in an attempt to cut costs. The company will eliminate 7,600 jobs, an increase from the 3,000 job cuts it announced in February. According to AstraZeneca, the reductions will save the company $900 million per year by 2010.

CEO David Brennan said the job cuts would most directly affect the company’s European sales and marketing staff. After that, the largest staff reductions would be in research and development – “and other areas” – in Britain, Sweden, Germany, France, the United States, and Canada. AstraZeneca will record a $1.6 billion charge in connection with the firings.

While AstraZeneca is cutting back on its expenditures elsewhere in the world, it is spending money to expand its presence in China and build revenues from the country. Also, it seems to be transferring some of its business to China in an attempt to keep a lid on costs.

Last year, AstraZeneca announced that it would spend $100 million over three years in China to build the AstraZeneca Innovation Center China. The R&D facility, to be based in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, will focus on translational science, developing knowledge about Chinese patients, biomarkers and genetics. The goal is to discover innovative drugs that treat cancer patients in China.

Also, AstraZeneca has a $14 million pact with WuXi Pharmatech (see story), in which WuXi is performing compound collection synthesis for AstraZeneca. The big pharma also entered a collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University that will seek to understand the genetics of schizophrenia.

AstraZeneca was an early entrant into China, establishing operations there in 1993. AstraZeneca China is headquartered in Shanghai, with branch offices in 20 other cities, and a production plant in Wuxi, Jiang Su Province, built in 2001. That facility manufactures about 80% of all the products the company sells in China. All told, AstraZeneca China has 2900 employees involved in the manufacturing, sales, marketing and clinical research of new products.

As we reported earlier (see story), AstraZeneca China will inaugurate a center in China to source APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) there, with the goal of placing orders for $100 million of API by 2010. Eventually, it expects 90% of its API to come from China.

The API initiative is a vote of confidence in the strengthened Intellectual Property rights now available in China and the high quality of manufacturing there – as well as the lower prices. At the same time as it began its API sourcing in China, AstraZeneca China changed its slogan from “In China for China,” to “In China for Global.”

Global Project Engineer – A Top a leading provider of custom cable assemblies and wire harnesses

A Top a leading provider of custom cable assemblies and wire harnesses
Location: Suzhou
Report to: Director of Engineering

Description of duties:
To assist in the development and implementation of new projects and product developments. Includes process development, production layout and training to support product manufacturing. This position has global responsibilities in support of all NAI locations.
1.Full technical support of medical and aerospace industries to include, interpretation of technical drawings, support in creation of labor standards and BOM¡¯s, development and implementation of production layouts for harnesses and assemblies and support of tooling requirements associated with these products.
2. Product transfer among facilities to include training, standards and procedures.
3. Ensure compliance to all customer and industry standards.
4. Global coordination of all processes to assure like manufacturing at all facilities.
5. Provide support for the development of labor standards required for product quotations.
6. Leading continual improvement activities to assist in cost reductions of components and production standards.
7. Could require frequent travel to include extended stays of 2-3 months at various site locations.
8. Assess equipment needs.
9. Lead project teams during new project implementation.
10. Introduce and implement new product lines.
11. Aid supply chain with new component sourcing and vendor qualification when necessary.

Requirement:
1. Bachelor’s degree required in engineering discipline
2. 10 years project management experience; some must be related to medical industry assemblies.
3. Ability to learn in-house systems
4. Familiarity with medical/aerospace industry and standards for these industries. Preference is for Medical assembly background, aerospace a plus.
5. Experience in developing production layouts and manufacturing strategies
6. Familiar with a lean manufacturing concepts, practices, and procedures.
7. Strong communication skills, English required
8. Ability to read, interpret and understanding technical drawings
9. Strong customer relations
10.Results oriented; have good leadership and coaching skills; excellent communications and interpersonal skills; have demonstrated problem analysis, problem solving, and delegation abilities; and be team oriented and capable of motivating others to follow.

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to:
‘topjob_eng064sz#dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)

Talent shortage linked to benefit cuts

A SHORTAGE of professionals has led to a decrease in the number of multinational companies offering benefits such as flexible work hours, sabbatical leave and gym memberships to their employees this year, according to a recent survey.

Companies in China offer the second lowest number of benefits in Asia, leading only Japan, according to the report by Hudson Recruitment, a Nasdaq-listed human resources company.

Hudson surveyed about 2,500 multinational company executives in Asia about their hiring expectations during the third quarter this year. Altogether 673 of the respondents are based on the Chinese mainland, mostly in Shanghai.

Among all sectors, 44 percent of respondents said that their companies have a work-life balance policy, which is designed to enable staff to balance the demands of their job and personal life.

The figure fell slightly from 47 percent when the same question was asked in the second quarter of 2005 for the previous survey, the report said.

Companies in the information technology sector are the most likely to offer work-life benefits, with more than 51 percent of those companies having such policies.

The sharpest decline was reported in the banking sector, where the percentage of benefit-offering companies dropped from 56 percent to 40 percent.

Angie Eagan, general manager of Hudson China, said that decline was the result of heavy recruiting by banks.

“Most employers do understand the importance of work-life balance, but they just cannot afford the luxury to be flexible with people due to a shortage of talents,” Eagan said.

She added that benefits are easily applied in fully staffed companies. Many companies are struggling to find enough trained workers, however, making it difficult to offer such benefits.

The report indicated that employment expectations remain high on the mainland. Sixty percent of respondents plan to increase headcount in the third quarter of this year, the highest level in Asia.

GM- a famous company

Company introduction:
Our client is a young professional and flexible company mainly active in, but not limited to, the supply of wall and ceiling panels and furniture for the Marine and Offshore building industry. It is a member of a large multinational, operating for over 100 years in the Marine and Offshore building industry. The company offers its clients a team of very experienced sourcing officers, capable of scanning the local and international markets for the best possible solutions.
In both the company¡¯s subsidiaries people work with a young, enthusiastic team of people. Everyone is a professional in his/her own field. They have more than 20 years of experience in sourcing the Chinese/Far East markets and have specific knowledge in marine related products. The company believes that we have to invest in people in order to reach an excellent level of performance.

Report To: GM Global
Location: Shanghai

Responsibilities:
Excellent contacts with customers, colleagues, manufacturers and suppliers are of the utmost importance. You can expand these capabilities and lead this young company to a success. You are representing the company in every way you can.
Your responsibilities:
1.To manage the Shanghai office, in every aspect, coordinating, organising, checking work activities and coaching and managing your staff
2.Developing and implementing strategic management, general management and monitoring the results of the company
3.Being responsible for daily activities such as operational, logistics, sales and commercial activities and developments
4.Being the link between the European head office and China.

You are:
1.A stimulating leader and motivating coach (people¡¯s manager) with experience in personnel management
2.An entrepreneur who works ¡°hands on¡±
3.A strong, dynamic and flexible organizer
4.Commercial, customer focussed and you have excellent social and communication skills
5.Target focussed, problem solving thinking
6.Capable of handling stress
7.Having experience in the furniture industry
8.Prepared to travel
9.Not having a ¡°nine to five¡± mentality
10.Experienced in Microsoft Office software
11.Having an excellent knowledge of the English language, spoken and in writing, is a must.

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to:
‘topjob_eo112sh#dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)

Thousands of companies forced to pay back wages

LABOR officials in the city forced companies to pay 280 million yuan (US$36.98 million) in delayed wage, social insurance fees and illegal deposits from employees from January to June, the Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau said yesterday.

The bureau received more than 10,000 complaints about delayed wages or other fees during the period and inspected more than 20,000 companies around the city. They found 6,987 violations of the law involving about 370,000 workers in total.

The bureau wouldn’t provide comparison figures from previous years.

About 39 percent of complaints investigated involved social insurance fees, while delayed wages accounted for 26 percent and unpaid overtime was the focus of 19 percent of grievances.

About 150 million yuan in delayed payments were cleared up during the six-month period.

“The number of cases of deliberately delaying wages dropped during the first half of the year,” said bureau official Zhang Yuan, without providing detailed numbers.

“Most of the delayed payments were for extra work or overtime working, and the delays were only one or two months, rather than as long as a year,” Zhang said.

The bureau said most of the companies found violating the law were private firms based in the city’s suburbs. It wouldn’t say how many fines were handed out.