East Asia`s Competition to Attract Foreign Talent

Talent is briskly crisscrossing the frontiers of Korea, China and Japan since economic interdependence has increased between the three neighboring nations. All three need qualified talent due to China’s rapid economic growth, and Korea’s and Japan’s growing aging population. As such, the three countries are vying for key talent.

○ Korean firms understand the significance of Chinese and Japanese talent

With China emerging as Korea’s most important business partner, the demand for Chinese talent in Korean firms have soared. SK has hired 40 Chinese workers under the strategy “China Insider” which intends to open up the Chinese market by putting Chinese talent at the front of its battle line. Most of them hold master’s or doctorate degrees from Peking University or Tsinghua University.

Japan’s sophisticated engineers are also drawing much attention from Korean firms. At LG Chem, eight Japanese workers are developing battery technologies. Moreover, it has hired nine Chinese workers including Chinese sales reps and attorneys. Overall, the company has hired Japanese engineers and Chinese sales force.

Association of Chinese Working in Korea, a gathering of Chinese elites, said 90 percent of its 1,400 members held master’s or doctorate degrees and that many of them worked in the financial sector.

○ Japan wants young brains from Korea and China

Japanese firms allow foreign workers with expertise and proficient Japanese language skills to compete with native Japanese on the same level, because it suffers a serious shortage of labor due to an aging population. The lack of experts is far worse in its science technology and information technology sectors.

Japanese firms are targeting IT professionals in Korea and China. According to Japan`s Justice Ministry, the Chinese have been making up the largest share of foreign workers, after Americans, in some sectors like technology, culture, and international projects since 2005. Koreans ranked third after China and the U.S.

○ China depends on talent from Korea and Japan

China, suffering from brain drain, has increasingly depended on talent from Korea and Japan since its trade volume with the two countries has increased.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Labor and Social Security, more than 180,000 foreigners held working permits as of 2006. In Shanghai, which has the most foreign workers (54,608) in China, Japanese accounted for the biggest share (28.6 percent), followed by Americans (12.3 percent) and Koreans (8.9 percent).

Among work permit holders, high-ranking officials such as presidents and officials in finance and personnel management claimed 25.4 percent while sophisticated engineers accounted for 6.1 percent. Among them, 2.6 percent hold doctorate degrees, 16.4 percent master’s degrees, and 69.4 percent bachelor’s degrees.

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