Survey: companies see more hiring in China.

Western companies are looking beyond the traditional Chinese business centers to locate their employees, with a sharp increase in executive assignment volume expected in second-tier cities such as Chengdu, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shangyang and Chongqing, according to a survey of senior human resource executives by Cendant Mobility.

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While only a small minority of multinational companies is currently active in these cities, the number of companies looking to them as assignment destinations within the next three years has grown by more than 50 percent, on average. Shanghai and Beijing will continue to experience increases in executive assignment volume as well, along with Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Senior human resources professionals from 109 global corporations and headquarters in 15 different countries participated in the survey, highlighted in Cendant Mobility's report, 2005 Worldwide Benchmark Study: Emerging Trends in Global Mobility: China.

"Companies are responding to growing [personnel] demands by aggressively recruiting and developing talent within China itself," said Dan Shao, Cendant Mobility's chief representative in China. "Tellingly, 53 percent of companies reported a heightened outbound transfer of Chinese citizens, suggesting interest in sending executives abroad to gain global exposure and bring back advanced management skills."

"Companies doing business in China are working hard to ensure their strategies keep pace with the country's explosive economic growth," said John Arcario, executive vice president of Cendant Mobility. The study indicated that the rate of growth in executive assignment volume into and out of China is showing no signs of slowing down, and Arcario says "businesses in China are working through a period of significant change."

Respondents reported an increase in all types of assignments in the past three years. Fully 90 percent expect the volume for most assignment types to increase or stay the same over the next three years. During the same period, intra-China and China-outbound assignments are predicted to grow at the fastest rates of any assignment type. More than four out of five participating companies (83 percent) said business strategy, rather than cost focus, is the key consideration driving their overall approach to assignments in China.

Cendant Mobility's survey results indicated further evidence of this increased demand for talent, with between 29 and 49 percent of respondents reporting a shortage in skills in job categories such as management and administration, IT and technical, finance and accounting, and sales and marketing. Seventy-four percent of respondents indicated trouble recruiting and retaining executive leadership.