Archives 2013

Recruitment giant Monster sells 90% of its stake in ChinaHR to Saongroup for a reported $30m

Monster, one of the largest employment websites in the world, has sold the unsettled jobs listing website ChinaHR to IrishJobs.ie for an undisclosed amount.

The Irish Examiner has reported today that Saongroup, an international online recruitment business owned by Denis O’Brien and Leslie Buckley, has acquired Monster’s Chinese operation for $30 million.

Saongroup now has a 90 percent stake in the business, with US-based Monster holding on to the remaining 10 percent.

Saongroup already operates an online jobs listing service in 30 countries, including China, through the IrishJobs.ie website. Although by default it’s set to display jobs in Ireland, the company’s sister site features openings in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong and Chengdu.

Combined, Saongroup says its employment websites receive more than 25 million visitors each month.

Ciaran McCooey, CEO of Soangroup, told the Irish Independent earlier today that the acquisition would help the company build a greater presence in China’s major cities.

“It has really positioned us in the tier one cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the mega cities,” he reportedly said. “Our own business had a very strong presence in the tier two and three cities outside of that, but we weren’t servicing the tier ones. It gives us a pan China presence now, which is excellent.”

Saongroup’s total workforce will now increase to 3,000 as a result of the acquisition.

Tech In Asia has reported that between 2005 and 2008, Monster pumped more than $240 million into ChinaHR as it transitioned from being an initial investor to its owner. The $30 million figure – which hasn’t been confirmed by either party yet – therefore represents a significant loss for the company.

It follows reports that last week, ChinaHR laid off more than half of its Beijing staff after offering them what has been described as “a pretty generous severance package.” That didn’t sit well with the remaining workers though, igniting a protest at around 2pm in the afternoon. Tech In Asia said that the management staff sent by Monster to announce the layoffs hid in their offices until local police arrived to settle everybody down.

Rackspace hires technology director for Asia-Pacific

The cloud service provider has snapped up industry veteran Alan Perkins for a newly created role.

Hosting and cloud service provider Rackspace has appointed Alan Perkins as its director of technology and product for Asia-Pacific.

In this newly created role, the IT veteran will be spruiking Rackspace’s open cloud standards model, designed to avoid vendor lock-in, on the back of growing cloud computing adoption in the region.

“This is an important time for the development of open cloud technology as Australian firms align to truly flexible computing models that will ensure they can perform with maximum agility in both the short and long term,” Perkins said in a statement.

He will be based in Sydney, where the company recently set up its first Australian datacentre.

Perkins previously spent more than a decade with software developer Altium, and was the CIO there for seven years. He was a finalist for the IDC Asia-Pacific CIO of the Year award in 2009.

Perkins has over 20 years experience in systems analysis and design.

“At a time when cloud and hosting decisions are becoming increasingly important to business, it gives us tremendous confidence to know that we’ve got someone of Alan’s diverse experience, leadership skills, and deep knowledge of technology on board,” Rackspace Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand Mark Randall said in a statement.

Saongroup acquires Monster’s Chinese operation

Saongroup, the online recruiter majority owned by Denis O’Brien, has acquired Monster’s China operation, ChinaHR.com, for an undisclosed amount.

Monster Worldwide will retain a ten per cent shareholding in the combined China business of Saongroup and the agreement takes place with immediate effect. Monster had previously announced its intention to divest its operation in China.

Saongroup already has a comprehensive national network of offices and websites in tier two, three and four cities throughout China and the addition of ChinaHR boosts this network to almost 200 cities across the country, whilst also giving it a strong presence in the tier one cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

“ChinaHR is an excellent match with Saongroup China. Its blue chip client list and strong tier one city presence complements Saongroup’s robust online platform and pan-China reach. The acquisition of ChinaHR repositions Saongroup as a market leader and leaves us well positioned to accelerate our growth in the Chinese market.” said Ciaran McCooey, group chief executive officer of Saongroup.

Saongroup.com is a global online recruitment company with operations across four continents – Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas – and websites live in 30 countries. Irishjobs.ie is its domestic trading entity.

Saongroup is 75 per cent owned by Mr O’Brien, with chairman Leslie Buckley owning the balance.

Hisense Constructing New R&D Hub

In late 2012 Chinese appliance and HVAC OEM Hisense began constructing what it said will be the world’s largest research and development base, in Qingdao, China.

The new facility will carry out R&D across the gamut of Hisense industry technology. Its biggest global markets are refrigerators, air-conditioners, and TVs.

The new R&D facility will cover 430 acres and the company said it will have “tens of thousands of R&D employees.”

The new facility replaces the company’s existing R&D center on a 50-acre site in Qingdao. The company said the old facility, in a former Hisense factory, can’t meet the demand of the company’s rapid growth.

The company intends to attract global talent to staff the new facility, including through overseas recruitment, global cooperation, and acquisitions. In the last year, the company has acquired Canada’s Flextronics, U.S.-based Archcom Chip, Huaya, Taiwan Laser, and others. It said dozens of technology leaders have already joined the company from the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

The new Qingdao base will serve as the hub for the company’s global R&D network, which includes facilities in the United States, Canada, Germany, and seven other regions.

Chinese company opening plant in Conover

Firm expects to hire around 80 people

CONOVER, NC — Folks in these parts are used to jobs connected to the textile industry moving overseas but a Chinese company is locating here and creating nearly 80 jobs.

Catawba County Economic Development Corporation announced on Thursday that Wuxi Taiji Paper Industry Company Ltd. is putting its first US manufacturing location in Conover and will hire 78 workers over the next four years. The company is buying the former Prestige Pillow 50,000-square-foot building, located at 405 Wortha Herman Road SW in Conover. It plans to invest $3 million, say EDC officials.

The company makes spiral-wound cardboard tubes and cores used in multiple industries, including the textile industry, according to information from the county EDC.

Julie Pruett, director of business recruitment for Catawba County Economic Development Corporation, said the jobs will include administration, sales and production. The first phase of hiring will start soon, according to information from the county EDC.

While salaries will vary according to the job, the overall average annual salary is more than $31,000, not including the additional benefits package, according to information from Catawba EDC.

The company is not receiving any incentives from the county or state, Pruett said. But it will get tax credits for the jobs it creates, she said.

Pruett said the company wants to have its equipment moved into its new building by February and be up and running by March.

“We are determined to be a respected tube and core supplier in North America,” says Mr. Meizong Yin, the company president.

The company is following what appears to be a trend to localize manufacturing. In other words, if a company sells in the US, it makes its products in the US, say officials.

“We are honored that Mr. Meizong Yin selected Conover as their first manufacturing footprint in America,” said Conover Mayor Lee Moritz Jr. “Our citizens are appreciative for this opportunity to become a member of the TAIJA Group team. It is exciting to see visionary international companies like TAIJI Group recognize the value of American manufacturing.”

Conover was competing against areas throughout the state, as well as locations in Virginia, Pruett said. County EDC and the state Department of Commerce officials have been working with the company since September, she said.

“It makes good business sense to locate their US operation in Catawba County which is the most specialized area for manufacturing in North and South Carolina,” Pruett said. “We were fortunate to have an available building with adequate ceiling heights and square footage that would meet the client’s needs.”

The company also chose Conover because it is centrally located near its customers, Pruett said.

The Taiji Group was established in China in 1994. In addition to the Chinese market, the company also has customers who are leading multinational companies in South East Asia, Europe and North and South America, according to information from Catawba County EDC.

“We welcome TAIJI Group(USA) Inc. to Catawba County and applaud their commitment to grow their business in the United States by investing in the people of Catawba County,” said Kitty Barnes, chair of the Catawba County Board of Commissioners.

To apply for a job with Wuxi Taiji Paper Industry Company, contact the Catawba County office of the NC Department of Commerce Division of Employment Security at 466-5535. The employment office is located at 3301 US 70 SE, Newton.

Chinese e-retailers cut staff despite market boom

Summary: Small and mid-sized e-retailers have started sacking people before the Chinese New Year amid pessimistic forecasts for the year, but despite Internet sales surging another 65 percent in 2012.

After one of the country’s most prominent electronics retailers, Gome Electrical Appliance, last week announced that it would lay off 200 staff on its e-commerce platform Gome.com.cn, a number of other B2C (business-to-commerce) retailers in China have also followed suit.

With the Chinese New Year approaching, Qianpin, one of China’s top 10 group-buying sites, confirmed in a First Financial Daily report that the company had fired around 200 employees in a new round of layoffs executed at the end of 2012, accounting for almost 40 percent of Qianpin’s total headcount.

In 2011, the company announced that it had successfully attracted venture capital totaling 100 million yuan (US$16.1 million), touting “not-short-of-cash” as its recruitment gimmick.

Some of China’s local clothing brands also closed their online stores on Taobao Mall (TMall), the country’s largest B2C marketplace. Some companies hold negative views on the market outlook for 2013, and have laid off staff before the start of the year’s peak recruitment season.

At the same time, larger players, including 360buy.com and Suning.com, launched aggressive promotions in 2012, which pushed up overall costs for these smaller-sized e-retailers in attracting consumers and affected sales. This led to attempts by these retailers to reduce staff costs in a bid to survive in the market, according to the First Financial Daily report.

However, a report released by 100EC.cn on January 29 showed that the size of the Chinese online retail market reached 1.3 trillion yuan (US$209 billion) in 2012, representing a year-on-year increase of 64.7 percent. This indicated that the overall e-retail market maintained a “fast pace of development” in China.

But sales promotion wars between large e-retailers also brought up several issues in the market. Consumers would only make purchases when there are huge discounts, which further squeezed the margins of smaller players in the market, according to analyst Wang Zhouping from the China e-Business Research Center. He anticipated that more small and mid-sized e-retailers will implement staff layoffs or close down in early-2013.

Expat talents urged to contribute to China

Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday invited more foreign experts to work in China, pledging better conditions for them.

With the Chinese Lunar New Year around the corner, Wen extended New Year’s greetings to about 20 veteran foreign experts working in China’s education, scientific research, culture and health sectors. They were invited to the Great Hall of the People for a seminar with the premier on Thursday.

Wen said foreign experts have contributed to China’s revolution and modernization drive, which the Chinese people will always remember.

He also said China will unswervingly stick to the reform and opening-up policy.

“A nation can be prosperous only when it is open and inclusive,” the premier said, adding that the number and quality of foreign experts reflect an open and civilized country.

“We will, as we are doing, welcome a large number of foreign experts, especially high-end talent in all fields to work in China and we will provide better policies and working environments for them,” he said.

More than 550,000 foreign experts were working in China in 2012, according to Zhang Jianguo, director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

China has introduced various programs to attract foreign professionals.

The Recruitment Program of Foreign Experts, which started in 2011, aims to attract up to 1,000 foreign professionals over 10 years to help spur innovation, promote scientific research and corporate management.

The project has brought in 94 recruits.

Professionals recruited by the program will be entitled to subsidies, research allowances, favorable salaries, residency permits, medical care and insurance policies.

Guillermo Pulido of Mexico is one of the recruits.

Pulido now works as the director of the Center of Mexican Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

His job is to help more people in China understand Mexican culture, through its language, literature and history.

“I chose (to work in) China without a second thought,” said Pulido, adding that his interest in China began when he was young. “I read books about ancient China at school in Mexico, and I became helplessly curious, especially about the ancient philosophies of Confucius and Lao Tzu,” he said.

Wang Huiyao, director of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, said in general the number of foreign experts working in China is comparatively small.

“We should further make our global talent introduction polices in accordance with international practices, such as using talent immigration measures and introducing more convenient visa and residence policies,” he said.

“The United States attracts around 62 percent of the world’s top scientists to live there and produces around 70 percent of the Nobel Price winners in natural science work in the country. That is closely related to its immigration and visa policy,” Wang said.

Besides scientists, China should introduce more global talent in fields such as the economy, corporate management and higher education, he suggests.

ChinaHR.com lays off employees amid buyout plans

Summary: Monster Worldwide’s China unit is starting to shed 54 percent of its 400 workers, and remaining employees organize a sit-in office protest to demand for compensation should they be laid off this year.

Chinese recruitment site ChinaHR.com, a subsidiary of Monster Worldwide, has started laying off 54 percent of its 400 staff members amid discussions of the company being sold.

According to Sina Tech Wednesday, the dismissed staff were compensated three months’ salary plus additional amounts depending on the time they have spent with the company. For example, an employee who has been with ChinaHR.com for five years will get an additional five months’ worth of his salary. Pregnant staff members will receive an extra 24 months’ salary, it added.

The layoffs come amid reports in November 2012 that Monster Worldwide will sell off its Chinese business unit, which it fully acquired in 2008, as part of its restructuring program to curb losses of US$130 billion. The acquiring company has not been disclosed though.

However, employees who did not get laid off were unsatisfied as they were not included in the compensation scheme. They were also disgruntled that ChinaHR CEO Luo Bingquan did not want to reveal details of the buyout, citing confidentiality, it reported.

On Tuesday night, more than 200 employees organized a sit-in protest in ChinaHR’s headquarters in Beijing.

After 10 hours of negotiation, both Luo and Monster Chairman Sal Iannuzzi proposed the remaining staff be compensated with the same plan if they are to be laid off in 2013 following ChinaHR’s acquisition, Sina Tech reported.

The proposal is subject to the approval from the unnamed buyer of the Web company, it added.

Apple finally takes action on underage labour

Apple has stuck to its word and begun to cut ties with Chinese suppliers who are found to employ underage workers.

Apple last year joined forces with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) after a report from the organisation found evidence of the practise at some of Apple’s suppliers.

Now the company has released its Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, in which it was revealed that Apple has cut ties with Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics (PZ) after 74 violations were discovered.

Staffing firm Shenzhen Quanshun Human Resources, which supplied workers to PZ, reportedly went as far as to aid families to produce fake age documentation. 106 active cases were revealed.

Interestingly, notorious employer Foxconn “is on track to meet the FLA’s recommendations by July 1st”, The Verge reports.

In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook has made a point of stressing that improved labour practices are a key priority for Apple – a notable change from the seemingly opposite policy employed by his predecessor (and Buddhist!) Steve Jobs.

The company performed 393 labour audits in 2012 – that’s a 72 per cent increase over 2011.

Antal assess new trends in oil and gas market

According to Antal China, the oil and gas sector is about to experience significant growth thanks to the growth of the Chinese economy. The company state that since 2011, the two China oil giants CNPC and Sinopec, have been pushing the wholesale prices down at a minimum, while increasing the prices of the retailed refined oil, thereby delivering high profits. However this year, at a time when the price difference between retailed and wholesaled oil has reached RMB 300/ton, foreign and private retail stations are facing a serious lack of oil source. For this reason some oil companies are now setting up their own depot – a move which has been recorded and supported by recruiting firm Antal China. In part, these new ventures ensure the companies retain enough oil reserve, but they also help companies to respond to price fluctuation which remain a clear feature of the Chinese market.

Antal have also perceived that deep-sea oil and gas field Exploration and Production (E&P) is becoming a greater focus in the region. However, this area of business requires higher quality of equipment, technology and talent. There are clearly new opportunities here for foreign companies who wish to supply this kind of technology to the region and alongside this there will be a higher demand for skilled personnel in deep sea development, project management, sales and application.

Antal have already been working in this area, recruiting for a foreign company who specialise in high-end sub-sea products. The company concerned set up a new office in Shenzhen in order to supply the deep-sea E&P development.