China is seeing a recruitment boom as post-pandemic growth continues . So how can Project RPO help organisations fill hiring gaps quickly ? Kensy Sy , General Manager at AMS China , explains .
The year 2021 has been an exceptionally active one for recruitment in China . We haven ’ t seen this volume of recruitment for a long time . There has been a massive hiring push on junior-to-mid-level candidates , who can easily get multiple offers and up to a 50 % salary increase . Competition among organisations has been fierce .
An outcome of this rapid hiring has been a renewed focus on Project RPO . An organisation might have a new product launch that needs a sales team putting together quickly , or a short-term project that requires roles to be filled .
How Project RPO works
For Project RPO engagements , we need to pull together hiring teams in a short timeframe – normally a month . We ’ ll also base the hiring team in our central headquarters , rather than with the client , as in traditional RPO . This allows us to act more quickly , without having to wait for equipment , security passes and office structure .
A good example of Project RPO in China is our relationship with a global leader in medical technology , service and solutions . We were already working with them on Enterprise RPO when they came to us in September 2020 looking to recruit for a new product launch . They needed a sales team of 55 people for launch and wanted the team ready within four months .
We started the assignment straight away , bringing together a team of four experienced recruiters . By October , we began posting adverts for the roles using social media and , in particular , WeChat , where we shared articles about the jobs and why the client was an attractive employer . We made these articles easily shareable and developed mobile-friendly applications to drive numbers . Within three months , we successfully completed the hiring process and the client was able to get the project live .
Flexibility in hiring
A second reason for the huge volume of recruiting in China is that many organisations have a backlog of hiring . The pandemic meant lots of hiring was paused in early 2020 , but this gradually crept back up in the second half of the year as restrictions relaxed . Now , organisations are trying to meet 2021 hiring needs and also backfill roles that were lost in 2020 .
This is where the flexibility of using AMS can really help organisations that need to recruit at scale . A good example is our relationship with a global sportswear company . Before COVID-19 , we would help the client to recruit 300-400 employees per month using a team of 26 people . When the pandemic hit , recruitment dropped by 90 %, with the company only hiring 10-12 people per month . We had to reduce our team from 26 to 16 , but didn ’ t make any redundancies . Instead , we moved these people to other projects within our organisation .
By becoming more open-minded about talent pools outside the usual suspects , our clients can gain more success in the talent acquisition game
As the economy rebounded , the client ’ s hiring went back up to 100-200 people per month and , by 2021 , the volume was even higher – at more than 400 people per month . We were able to move our people back to working with the client . This example fully showcases our flexibility . Had the client had their own people in recruitment , they would have had to make redundancies and then rehire quickly . By using AMS , they were able to flex with the pandemic and alter recruitment needs effectively .
New talent pools
The rapid rise in headcount among organisations in China means businesses have had to look beyond traditional talent pools . In the past , it has been very easy to simply look at hiring from your direct competitors . However , in a booming recruitment situation , that might not always work , as they ’ ll expect better job titles and a higher salary . Can we help organisations find alternative solutions ?
We talk to our clients about being more creative with their hiring . For example , financial services organisations often want to hire bankers from their competitors . But could they look for similar skill sets in other industries and then train those people in the knowledge needed in finance ? If connections to wealthy individuals or businesses are needed , perhaps look to luxury sales or property and train people with experience there in finance .
In addition , we want HR and line managers to be more open-minded about work locations . The pandemic has shown that remote working can succeed , so could organisations broaden their talent pools by looking to populations they normally don ’ t hire , such as returning mothers or retirees ? By becoming more open-minded about talent pools outside the usual suspects , our clients can gain more success in the talent acquisition game .