Talent drawn to local firms

Chinese companies are increasingly attractive to professionals: Study

Jobseekers get preliminary interviews at an international talent fair in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Zou Zhongpin / China Daily

China's workforce is maturing and giving priority to different aspects of corporate culture, a new survey shows.

The 2013 MRIC Talent Report by recruitment firm MRIC/MRI China Group surveyed more than 5,000 Chinese professionals and managers on the Chinese mainland, and in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

It found that Chinese professionals were "increasingly being lured" by local corporations, as State-owned enterprises and domestic private-sector companies expand within the nation and abroad.

Chinese companies are "increasingly attractive when compared with Western (multinational corporations) in terms of career growth and development," wrote Christine Raynaud, chief executive officer of MRIC, and Angie Eagan, managing director of MRIC in China.

Chinese companies may be able to "draw on strong nationalistic sentiment" with workers because there is "pride associated with working for a Chinese company - especially one that is seen as progressive and technologically sophisticated with good career opportunities," the authors wrote.

China's economy is no longer expanding at a double-digit pace, and MRIC found that foreign companies are not investing as aggressively as previously.

Therefore, Chinese workers are realizing that "foreign companies do not necessarily offer broader roles or great job security", according to the report.