Category Opinion and View

Financial jobs mostly likely to be replaced by AI: Deloitte

Finance employees are most likely to be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) in the future, said a research report by Deloitte on Nov. 30, China News reported.

The research investigated nearly 500 managerial staffs in different fields in China, of which more than 80 percent said that AI is most likely to be applied to financial work, and over three quarters said that AI could be used to provide assistance for their management work in five years.

According to the report, most of the respondents think jobs requiring carefulness and preciseness are more likely to use AI than those requiring professional knowledge, logical analysis, and communication and coordination skills.

Enterprises, therefore, should make full use of innovative technologies and tools such as big data and cognitive computing to get ready for both the opportunities and challenges to be brought by AI, said Xie An, a business partner of Deloitte.

Xie added that China’s education sector should also make appropriate adjustments to cultivate talents for the coming era of AI.

Chinese graduates should intern instead of job-hopping

Amid the massive enrollment expansion of Chinese universities since 1999 and the global economic downturn, finding a desirable job in China is not easy for most new graduates.

Statistics show that only 62 percent of 177,000 graduates in Shanghai found jobs upon graduation in 2015, resulting in high unemployment rates in the city.

Ironically, more than half of all recent Chinese graduates in first-tier cities end up quitting their new jobs within the first two months, according to the figures released by recruitment platform 58.com.

A large percentage was said to be dissatisfied with their salaries while others sought work that would allow them to better improve their skills. A small number ultimately decided it would be easier just to return to higher education or go travel.

Analysts are trying to uncover the real reasons behind this bizarre trend of graduates giving up so soon after entering China’s job market.

Some say that post-1990s and millennial-generation Chinese are notorious for being quick to quit, and others are outright criticizing them for being spoiled, immature and impatient – hallmark personality traits of today’s young Chinese.

As a university student in my senior year, I can offer some perspective into this perplexing trend. You see, after spending our entire childhoods preparing for gaokao (the national college entrance exams) followed by four years in a university, it’s understandable that many Chinese grads would prefer time off to play, travel, party or simply rest before diving into a lifelong career.

Additionally, as my fellow intern, Zhang Qin, here at the Global Times Metro Shanghai wrote in a recent TwoCents article, “Chinese students tend to sacrifice their personal interests in order to get accepted by a better-ranked university that may not offer their first choice of majors … the decision of which major to pursue is usually influenced or wholly decided by our parents or teachers.”

This, then, is also why so many Chinese grads find themselves feeling dissatisfied or downright depressed about their new jobs. It doesn’t help that we are pushed by our families into a profession for which we may have no passion, leading to compromising our personal happiness.

Choosing a vocation and dedicating our lives to it is not as easy today as it was for our parents and grandparents. More options, along with more educated, eligible candidates, mean that most of us will have to enter a job at the very bottom, settling for minimal salaries.

Nonetheless, a few uni students I know are one step ahead of the rat race. There’s a girl in my grade who has attended six internships throughout her undergrad years in order to identify a career she will be most competent in, then narrow down which specific company she’d most prefer working for. She is a true inspiration not just to our generation but to me personally.

This leads to my own internship here at the Global Times. Originally hailing from North China, I came to Shanghai to study because it is an ever-evolving metropolis full of opportunities.

Over the past three years I have tried to take advantage of all my spare time; instead of lazing around my dorm room, I have worked a number of part-time jobs and internships. I originally wanted to be an English interpreter, but my current internship as a journalist has allowed me to expand my horizons.

Quitting a salaried job right after starting is a permanent blight on your dossier; prospective employers will see how unreliable and irresponsible you are and probably not want to take a chance spending time and money on training you if they think you are just going to jump ship.

Indubitably, more than high scores or skill sets, what recruiters seek in young candidates are loyalty, persistence and strong character.

Yes, older companies may want to consider altering their archaic business models and outdated recruitment practices to better suit the impatient mind-sets of millennials; after all, it is us who will soon be taking over those companies.

But until then, it is wholly up to undergrads to prepare themselves for today’s uncertain job market.

Recruiting the right way in the digital economy

Managers seeking to meet the demands of the digital economy need to radically rethink how they recruit and develop their workers.
They should concentrate less on trying to fill vacant jobs or searching for prospective employees with particular academic or professional qualifications. Instead, they should focus more on attracting candidates with the skills the organisation needs – even if jobseekers come from different industries or lack some of the skills required.
These are some of the findings of the World Economic Forum’s 2016 Human Capital Report. The report makes compelling reading and offers valuable insight into how organisations can align their human capital requirements with the fast-changing digital economy. It examines how 130 countries around the world are developing and deploying their human capital. For the first time, the report’s authors have drawn on workforce information provided by digital employment exchanges and platform businesses. Contributors include LinkedIn, Upwork, Care.com in the US and Chinese firm Didi Chuxing. They’ve combined this information with a wide range of public sector data to produce a fascinating analysis of global skills and work trends.
Important findings for businesses include:
• Skill-sets are often a more accurate and consistent indicator of a recruitment candidate’s ability than job titles or qualifications, and can frequently be transferred from one industry to another. While data analysts in the market research and energy industries might have little in common there are strong similarities, for example, in the skills required for this role in the financial services and consumer retail sectors.
WEF report examines how 130 countries around the world are developing and deploying their human capital. Photo: Reuters
• Focusing on skills broadens an employer’s pool of prospective recruits and increases development opportunities for its workers. For example, only 84 000 of LinkedIn’s 430 million members record their job title as “data scientist” or “data analyst.” However, 9.7 million LinkedIn members possess one or more of the primary or sub-skills required by data scientists and data analysts. Around 600,000 have at least five of these skills. A modest investment in training could equip many of them for the role of data scientist or data analyst.
• Businesses can no longer act as consumers of “ready-made” human capital. They have a social responsibility to work closely with educators and governments to develop education systems that keep pace with an increasingly digital and dynamic labour market. Greater in-house development and training are also needed to enable workers to adapt to constantly changing skills requirements.
• Digital work platforms are accelerating the growth of the global “on-demand” workforce. However, most workers currently using these digital services were freelancing before they joined. Digital talent platforms still account for a very small proportion of the “own account” work performed in major economies.
• High talent mobility is shifting key digital skills between countries. Australia, Chile and the United Arab Emirates, for example, are gaining technology skills while Greece, Canada and Finland are losing them.

Are going-out companies paying too much?

In the late 1980s, Japan had over-inflated stock and property markets. Its companies, fleeing the lack of opportunities in Japan itself, vastly overpaid for all manner of U.S. assets. I often dreamed that some Japanese investor would overpay for the house I owned at the time.

The rate of Chinese companies making overseas investments has more than doubled since last year. They often have a business model designed to bring technology and foreign business practices to the huge domestic Chinese market?a much better-defined plan than the Japanese, who were mostly purely financial investors, ever did. But, still I worry that they are paying too much.

Let’s take a look at a recent deal. Beijing-based LeEco Global Ltd announced last Tuesday that it agreed to pay $2 billion cash for Vizio Inc, a California-based manufacturer of inexpensive television sets and sound bars. This at a time when the dollar is high relative to the yuan. LeEco argued that Vizio will enable it to gain market share in the coming internet-of-things technology that links all kinds of smart products together. And, it certainly may turn out in that LeEco made a smart move in the long run. But, I still wonder about the pricing.

Vizio filed initial public offering papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in July of 2015, but never actually carried out the IPO. According to accounting data in the SEC filing, Vizio’s profits were $44.96 million in 2014 and $31.35 million in the first half of 2015.

Since Vizio is privately held and decided not to go through with the IPO, subsequent data are not available. But these numbers imply a profit of roughly $56 million in 2015, assuming that Vizio makes slightly more than half of its profits in the first half, as it did in 2014. Vizio has not been a growth company?its sales and profits in 2014 were about the same as in 2010 and were lower in the years in between.

Vizio’s business in the U.S. is in brutally competitive markets. Most consumers in the U.S. consider television sets to be almost undifferentiated commodities?they buy the cheapest one. Vizio has become the biggest-selling brand of TVs in the U.S. by following a low-price strategy. But, this strategy leads to very low margins?profits have averaged less than 3 percent of sales.

Vizio’s TVs are connected to the internet, so the company receives potentially valuable data on what shows its customers are watching. But, the company so far has not been able to reap profits from this information. In any case, William Wang, the current CEO and majority owner of Vizio, will retain 51 percent ownership of the Insight division, which will own this data.

The bottom line is that LeEco has agreed to pay about 35 times earnings for a producer of near-commodity products in a highly competitive business. This compares with Apple Inc, which currently trades for 11 times earnings, Google Inc at 30, and Samsung Electronics Co at 3.3.

If Vizio had completed its IPO and received 10 times earnings, which seems about right for a low-margin company, it would have had a market value of $600 million. Even at the current historically high average Dow Industrials price-to-earnings ratio of about 20, which is too high for a company in such a competitive market, Vizio would be worth $1.2 billion.

China Daily reported that Jia Yueting, founder and CEO of LeEco, said that the purchase of Vizio is part of a “big bang plan” to enter the U.S. market.

It may get access to Vizio’s distribution channels to sell its phones and other products?but, Vizio sells its TVs through big box stores, such as Best Buy Co Inc, which insist on paying low-margin prices to their suppliers.

It may be able to use its LeEco system to add value to the TVs, but Vizio made its name through low prices?proving that customers are reluctant to pay more for sophisticated TVs. Just about every merger or acquisition is justified on the basis of “synergies”, but few actually pay off.

Companies spending their own money have more incentive to get it right than does an outside analyst like myself. But, I do hope the current wave of Chinese companies going-out are not paying too much.

(By David Blair)

Retaining talent a key concern

An applicant talks to hiring staff at a job fair

Employers in China are the most worried about retaining talent among major global economies while the employees are the most concerned about salaries and health, a Metlife report has said.

The U.S.-based life insurance company said that 47 percent of employers in China are worried that talent shortages will affect their business in the next 12 months, and 71 percent said that retaining existing talent is difficult, the highest among 11 countries and regions where the survey is conducted.

The study found that while raising salaries remain the most effective way in retaining talent in China, 58 percent employees said they will stay with their company if an improved benefits package is offered.

Medical-related benefits are the most sought after benefits, followed by life insurance and retirement plans even if employees have to pay the full costs, it said.

“Globally, we are seeing employers increasingly challenged to find innovative ways to attract, retain and engage talent, and China is no exception,” said Maria Morris, executive vice president, Global Employee Benefits, MetLife. “We found Chinese employees are more concerned about healthcare than many mature markets such as the U.S., and we expect fast growth of group insurance market in China throughout the healthcare, life insurance, and pension sectors.”

Compared with the U.K. and Russia, Chinese employees are less obsessed with cash incentives, Morris added.

It is the first time Metlife include the Chinese market into its global Employee Benefit Trends Study as the insurer noticed huge potential of employment benefit market driven by domestic and multinational companies demands to retain talent.

The China survey covers nearly 393 employers and 367 full-time employees.

Vietnam supervises recruitment of over 3,600 Chinese workers by Chinese contractor

State inspectors in southern Tra Vinh Province have requested that the Chinese contractor of a local thermal power project elaborate on its plans for the recruitment of over 3,600 Chinese workers by 2017, said Duong Quang Ngoc, deputy director of the provincial Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

The department’s Inspectorate has coordinated with the management unit for the Duyen Hai Thermal Power Plant III Project in inspecting the project contractor’s plan for the recruitment of foreign workers to ensure that they are employed only when Vietnamese candidates fail to meet the qualifications required for each job title, Ngoc said.

The inspection was made after Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper published an article on July 7, questioning the local government’s approval of the plan, under which thousands of Chinese workers will be recruited for the project.

The article came after the provincial People’s Committee approved the plan based on the department’s proposal that was made after the contractor reported that no Vietnamese candidates met the required qualifications.

The Inspectorate now requests that the contractor, China Chengda Engineering Co., Ltd., report on its construction schedule and the plan for its use of workers for 2014 and each year to follow.

This plan must provide all details on the estimated number of employees to be recruited and their specific skills and qualifications.

When such recruitment plan is made available, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs will examine it and if it meets applicable regulations, the department will approve and broadly publicize it nationwide through mass media, not only within the province as previously done by the contractor.

The department will also assign staff to supervise the process of recruitment under the approved plan to ensure that the recruitment of foreign workers is lawful.

Under the current recruitment plan of the contractor, the company will recruit 1,513 workers from now until the year’s end, and 2,162 others by 2017, including 1,528 technical workers.

Ideal job offers more than money

What makes an ideal employer for white-collar employees has changed over the years, a report found.

The factors in this changing perception are not all strictly work-related as inflation, general welfare and high property prices also play a role, the report jointly released by Zhaopin.com and Beijing University’s Institute of Social Science Survey showed.

The annual report was published on Dec 13, together with a list of what are considered to be the top 30 best employers in China.

The survey conducted interviews in 2,132 companies in 17 industries, mostly in first- and second-tier cities.

“Compared with two years ago, white-collar workers are not just focused on high salaries but want more of a welfare package,” said Zhu Hongyan, a senior career consultant at Zhaopin.com, one of the country’s biggest job-hunting websites.

“They also care more about whether they can get respect, and enjoy good working relationships in the office, rather than simply promotion opportunities, as in the past,” she added.

Xu Jianhong, 25, graduated from a top university in Nanjing in 2011 and began work at a leading consulting firm in Shanghai.

“My salary is considered high compared to my classmates, and that’s the main reason I chose the job,” he said. “But now I find it not worthwhile as the working hours are too long, and there is no work-life balance. I don’t have a hukou (household registration) so I cannot enjoy the benefits that come with it.”

Xu said that in a year or two, he will consider changing jobs to a more stable company, preferably a State-owned company (SOE) as they have better welfare packages.

“I don’t regret the choice I made as I acquired a great many job skills and the relationships within the company are good, with no hierarchy, no bureaucracy. We can discuss issues with the big boss anytime,” he said, wondering whether any new job would offer such a pleasant environment.

“If I change and work in an SOE, I worry that the environment within the company will be different and I will have a hard time getting used to the hidden rules.”

Xu’s opinion was echoed by many of his peers.

Liang Lin, 29, graduated with a master’s degree in business from a top university. She has changed jobs three times over the past five years, and said her preference has changed as well.

“The first job I had was with a US insurance company,” she said. “It was good pay but long hours.”

She wanted a better work-life balance, where she has time to do the things she wants to do.

Now she is representing her company, which is an SOE, as it opens a joint venture with a local company in Shanghai.

“I have more free time, and I get a good social welfare package,” she said. “I can do things I enjoy.”

Zhu, the career consultant, explained that this change is in line with the theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow was a US psychologist who published a well-known paper in 1943 that prioritized human needs.

“This shows that an employee needs develop from basic physiological to higher psychological needs, as the theory explained,” she said. “Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.”

Zhu also explained that SOEs, as they have a market monopoly in certain industries, can provide employees with better welfare packages, including hukou, medical care, children’s education and perhaps housing. That complete package, which is hard to get even if a worker has a high salary, is more attractive nowadays.

“As a fresh graduate, I believed that money talked, but now I realize the importance of work-life balance, and the process of self-actualization. To do what you want to do and be allowed to do so is truly a blessing,” said Li Xinyuan, who has worked with a US law firm since 2010 after graduating with a law degree from an Ivy-league university in the US.

Her monthly income is double that of her peers who work in SOEs but she said she feels that the money alone is not reward enough.

Li is thinking of getting a PhD degree and then teaching.

“That is more meaningful to me,” she said.

Negotiating Employee Contracts in China

Regardless of what business you are in or where you operate, it is great employees that make a great company. While hiring great employees can be a challenge anywhere, the process of recruiting, retaining and terminating employees is especially tricky in China.

First, let’s dispel the common misconception that labor is cheaper in China. That’s arguably still true for factory workers, but skilled staffers draw significant salaries. At first glance, the numbers may seem deceptively low. A skilled office manager, for example, is paid a monthly salary of $1,000 to $2,500 in China, compared to $3,750 to $5,000 for a comparable position in Arizona, where my American business is headquartered. But in China, employers pay additional taxes on these wages in the form of “social insurance.” The rates vary by province, but in Shanghai, where I do business, the cost is 44 percent above the base salary.

So for a worker earning $2,000 per month, the cost to the employer will actually be $2,880. Additionally, it is customary at the Chinese New Year to give employees a 13th month of pay — including social insurance — for 12 months of work. Amortize that over the year and it raises the monthly cost to $3,120, which is creeping up toward the American pay scale.

Some may argue that there’s a qualitative difference in employee abilities between the two countries, but my experience is that the best people in China are equal in skill to their American counterparts.

Another critical thing to note is that job descriptions in China need to be much more detailed than those in the United States. Being as specific as possible in the labor contract about your expectations is imperative to establishing good working relationships with your Chinese employees. Simply including a sentence at the end of a job description that says “other duties as directed by your supervisor” will not suffice.

For example, in the United States, we think nothing of requiring an American office manager to wash his or her own coffee cup at the end of the day, but in China, the expectation is that an “ayi” — literally, it means “auntie,” but we would call her a maid — cleans up after everyone. In addition, a male employee may view typing a report as woman’s work — and thus beneath his position. That’s why it’s critical to be completely clear about a job’s specific tasks during the job interview and contract negotiations.

Arizona is a right-to-work state, so adjusting to China’s employment-contract system has been challenging for me. I have found that the best bet is to keep a close eye on details. Here are two basics that should be checked carefully, because they change often, sometimes several times a year:

• Term length: All employees get contracts, and they are issued in one-, two- or three-year terms.

• Probation: The one-year contract allows a probation of 30 days for an employee, the two-year contract allows 90 days of probation and six months’ of probation on a three-year contract.

In the probationary period you can terminate an employee without penalty; however, changes to this system are coming soon, so it’s smart for you to have a system to check contracts when necessary.

The best resources to keep you on the good side of Chinese labor law are your labor lawyers, who will update you when rules change. You definitely need a lawyer to represent your company. Labor contracts tend to be one-sided, and they really only govern how you will treat your employees with little impact on how your employees will treat you.

For example, if an employee has a three-year contract, he or she is not penalized for leaving before the contract ends. But if you decide to terminate an employee, you will need to pay one month for every year remaining on the contract, plus a prorated annual bonus. If you fire a staff member in the ninth month of a three-year contract, you will pay four months of salary. Failure to do so will land you in labor court. I’ll cover that in my next entry.

It sounds temping to go with a short contract, but I’ve found that it doesn’t really allow enough time to judge whether a new hire has the necessary skills and will fit into the corporate culture. For management positions, we use a three-year contract – with six months of probation – and for other positions we use a two-year term.

Think of the time you and your staff spend writing up detailed job descriptions and combing through the contractual fine print as an investment in peace of mind. Proper planning will spare you sleepless nights.

Is 51job a Better Buy Than LinkedIn or Monster?

They’re hiring in China, and 51job is making the most of its market leadership in online recruitment services.

The Chinese company that got its start inserting regional job listings in local Chinese newspapers before expanding into the more lucrative realm of cyberspace posted another quarter of growth after yesterday’s market close. Revenue climbed 12% to a better than expected $68.6 million, fueled by a 15% spike in online recruiting. That was held back by 51job’s original print business that continues to scale back in scope. 51job once served more than two dozen of China’s biggest newspapers with weekly job listings, but it’s now retreated to just four publications.

Shifting from print to the Internet has historically beefed up 51job’s margins, but not this time. Net income inched just 4% higher to the equivalent of $0.64 per ADS. That’s in line with Wall Street expectations, and that’s actually a good thing. It’s the first time this year that 51job doesn’t fall short on the bottom line.

This has been a surprisingly strong performer over the years, more than tripling since I recommended it to Motley Fool Rule Breakers newsletter service subscribers three years ago.

Stateside investors may have a hard time wrapping their heads around a growing provider of online recruitment that isn’t in the LinkedIn mold of social networking. Domestic leader Monster Worldwide — which has struggled in 51job’s turf with its diminishing stake in ChinaHR.com — has been a disappointment for growth stock investors.

Monster reported an 11% decline in revenue for the same three months this morning. The market was braced for the decline, and the stock actually moved higher on the news. But during the same three-year run that has seen 51job more than triple, we’ve seen Monster shed nearly two-thirds of its value.

LinkedIn has naturally fared well. The career-oriented social networking giant saw revenue during the same quarter soar 56%, and adjusted earnings grew even faster. But here’s where the valuation appeal of 51job may sway some investors who are reluctant to buy into China’s booming employment scene.

51job may not be cheap at 25 times next year’s earnings, but it’s a bargain when pitted against LinkedIn’s multiple of 99 times next year’s profit target. There are regulatory concerns in China, and that’s partly weighing on the stock this morning, but it’s hard not to like 51job’s prospects as a proven Wall Street winner.

Given 51job’s consistent growth over the years — and its guidance calls for another quarter of double-digit revenue growth for the new quarter — it may just be the better stock at getting the job done in your portfolio.

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6 Job-Hunting Tips for the Employed

People aren’t waiting until they are unemployed to start looking for their next opportunities. New research has found that 73% of employees say they are comfortable searching for a job while they still have one.

However, those respondents are not only looking for a new job while employed: they’re searching while they’re working. Respondents say they would be comfortable looking for jobs online, exchanging emails, taking calls and submitting applications while they are at their current places of employment.

While the majority of respondents say they would job-hunt while at their place of work, 26% of respondents say they are uncomfortable looking for another job while they are still employed.

SEE ALSO: 50+ Job Skills You Should List on Your Resume

The researchers found a distinct breakdown by age when it comes to comfort in looking for a new job. Workers between the ages of 18 and 34 were most likely to conduct job search-related tasks at their current job. Overall, 48% of workers in that age range say they are comfortable looking for a job at work. Just more than one-quarter of workers between ages 35 and 44 say they are comfortable looking for a new job at their office. Of workers 55 and older, 21% say they would be comfortable looking for a new job while at the office. The research was based on the responses of 427 workers.

“The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, so professionals should first consider how they might improve their current situation before looking for a new job,” said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Human Resources Kit For Dummies (John Wiley & Sons Inc. 2012). “When it is time to move on, conducting the job hunt using company resources is not only unethical, it places the employee at a high risk of being caught in the act.”

SEE ALSO: 11 Resume Myths Busted: Realities Revealed

To help workers who may be looking for a new job while employed, Accountemps offers the following tips.

1. Look at internal openings first. If you’ve outgrown your current role but are happy with your work environment, see if there are relevant openings within your company before looking elsewhere. When it comes to filling vacancies, many employers prefer internal candidates.

2. Keep it to yourself. If you want to keep your job search a secret, don’t mention it to anyone at work. Even the most trustworthy co-worker could inadvertently spill the beans. It’s best to stay mum until you announce your resignation.

3. Play it safe online. Be careful when visiting job boards or using social media to conduct your search. A single status update could be enough to alert your employer. You can further minimize the risk of being caught by ensuring your privacy settings are tight and using services that mask your identity when posting your résumé online.

4. Be upfront with potential employers. Most hiring managers understand that you will need to make arrangements to communicate or meet outside of office hours. Schedule interviews before or after work or during your lunch break.

5. Focus on the details. If you work in a casual environment where jeans and sneakers are the norm, showing up in a suit following a job interview could reveal your intentions. Bring a change of clothes so nothing seems amiss.

6. Partner with a recruiter. A professional recruitment agency is often your best bet when it comes to conducting a discreet job search. A recruiter can confidentially distribute your résumé and identify relevant employment opportunities on your behalf.