China Is Not Global Business Panacea

Transcription

1 NEWS RELEASE For immediate release, 8 February 2012 China Is Not Global Business Panacea Say China s Business Leaders SHANGHAI, China. 8 February 2012 China s captains of industry have expressed caution that glowing sales forecasts for their companies may be exaggerated puffs of smoke in the year of the Dragon, reveals the MRI China Group today, through findings from their annual survey of over 5000 of Asia s movers and shakers. The recruitment specialist, MRI China Group, previewed its latest Talent Environment Index detailing first hand views of the working professionals in jobs and prospective managers, across its Asia talent pool in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hong Kong, For further information please contact: our PR Singapore, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, as well as samples from Europe and North America. Too much pressure on China growth expectations? China demand is still seen as the panacea for Asian and Western multinational companies experiencing sickly sales figures in their home Company information: markets, but within Mainland China, the view is more cautious. Mainland China respondents overall, while relatively optimistic - with over 40%

2 - 2 - positive about Greater China economic outlook and 15% negative - are less buoyant than the rest of our survey respondents, in Asia and in the rest of the world with respectively 50% and 60% of positive outlook and 10% negative only, says Christine Raynaud, CEO, The MRI China Group. Maybe China s engineered soft landing, tighter credit, overcapacity and slower demand from the eurozone have begun to be felt more sharply within China than without. That difference is even more stark at the top. The lowest rate of positive outlook is with the top management in Mainland China with only 38.5% of positive respondents compared with close to 43% from Mainland China respondents. 2

3 - 3 - China and the rest of the world very different economic outlooks Conflicting economic data seems to be reflected in the survey findings. It s almost as if the China economy, in every respondent perception, was disconnected from the rest of the world, added Ms Raynaud. The Chinese economy grew at 8.9% in Q4 of 2011 the weakest in two and a half years and analysts are forecasting a GDP of only 8% for By contrast, domestic retail sales for multinational brands remain robust and the latest PMI figures released last week show an expansion in industrial activity. These are confusing times for business leaders, said Ms Raynaud. Half of all those surveyed (49.1%) held a negative view of the global 3

4 - 4 - economic outlook for 2012, whilst almost half again (43.5%) were positive about the Greater China outlook, which may lead to an overreliance on China growth targets and increase the pressure on teams there. In Hong Kong and Taiwan only a minority view of 6.6% and 6.4% respectively were upbeat about world prospects making the reliance on an exuberant China more crucial to regional and global forecasting by those key decision makers polled. China career ambition not deterred by global outlook changes With attention so firmly fixed on China growth, unsurprisingly the Mainland is still the most active location for career changes. For 2012, 33% of Mainland respondents were planning a career change compared with 24% planning to change in The figure is highest in Guangzhou with some 38.2% planning a career change. 4

5 - 5 - Uncertainty limits changes at the top There is good news at the top management level which showed an improved 27% planning to stay put, compared with 9% last year reflecting the more cautious trend amongst top management. Women are relatively more stable with 30.4% planning to change versus 33.9% of men on the Mainland. In Hong Kong, the trend overall is more moderate, where 27.8% versus 28.6% plan a career change and 21.1% intend to stay where they are compared to last year s 14.8%. In all markets outside of the Mainland, top management is also more stable with only 17% wanting a change. However, overall, Taiwan (38.1%), Singapore (39.5%) and the rest of Asia (37.5%) maintain strong intentions for career change. Life Sciences seen as most promising for job prospects The MRI China Group research breaks down job prospects data by industry sector. Even though the world's second-largest economy is expected to face difficulties in 2012, the main engine of job creation in the region is still seen as China. Overall China s job prospects are seen as positive with over half of respondents in Life Sciences and Healthcare (59%), Professional 5

6 - 6 - Services (53%), Retail and Consumer (53.7%) providing positive assessments, asserts Christine Raynaud. Financial Services also maintained a positive outlook in Mainland China (50.5%) unlike Hong Kong where the view is very negative from 55% of respondents there. China s industrial sector ranked lower in positive outlook (43.9%) than its Asia counterparts, again emphasizing the discrepancy in over-optimism for China from those working outside of the Mainland. ENDS. 6

7 - 7 - Notes for Editors 1. Greater China refers to Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. 2. The MRI China Group Talent Environment Index surveyed 5576 mid to senior level management across a wide range of businesses, industries and locations: in Mainland China, 532 in Hong Kong, 325 in Singapore, 294 in Taiwan, 64 in Europe and 88 in North America. 3. Over 80% of those surveyed held managerial positions, including 199 respondents in President/CEO or Regional Leader roles and 570 in Managing Director/General Manager/Country Manager roles. 4. An executive summary of findings from the first part of the survey data are available from the media contacts listed. The full survey data and report will be published in March 2012, for public enquiries about MRI China Group services please contact: Christine Raynaud, CEO The MRI China Group Tel: [email protected] or Angie Eagan, Managing Director Tal-os Asia Tel: [email protected] About The MRI China Group The MRI China Group provides executive recruitment services and through its subsidiary Tal-os, recruitment outsourcing solutions. The MRI China Group has operations in Mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu), Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore with over 200 staff. It is part of the MRI Network, one of the largest executive search and recruitment organizations in the world, providing executive search and recruitment services, talent market intelligence and recruitment process outsourcing solutions to clients in every major industry. The MRI China Group serves multinational, regional and local companies on a global basis. The MRI China Group has been awarded CCH/China Staff Recruitment Firm of the Year, China in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 and HCM Magazine s Best Recruitment Company, Greater China 2009/2010. ### 7