China - Experienced Japanese flock to jobs in China

An increasing number of Japanese approaching retirement age prefer to seek job opportunities in booming China rather than retire in Japan, the Financial Times reports.

Mr Akira Seijo, 64, who spent three years in China procuring parts for a Japanese furniture company, was supposed to return to Japan and ease into retirement.

But he was not ready for that and secured a production management position with a Japanese manufacturer in Shanghai.

"I wanted to work in China because it is still growing and I can use my experience," Mr Seijo told the Financial Times.

Mr Seijo is not alone, as more Japanese are being forced to look beyond their shores for career opportunities due to the country's sluggish economy.

More Japanese job seekers find their years of experience and technical knowhow highly valued in China, where foreign talent is needed to beef up its growth.

Recruit Agent, a Japanese recruitment company, noted the rising number of Japanese seeking work in China, and decided to expand the firm by placing 880 Japanese workers in China.

One reason for the trend is the increase in Japanese firms setting up R&D sites and sales offices in China, said Mr Yasutaka Matsuda, business development manager at Recruit Agent. In July, for instance, cellphone maker Sony-Ericsson opened an R&D centre in Beijing.

These China-based Japanese firms, Mr Matsuda added, prefer to employ Japanese staff, including managers, locally, to avoid the expense of shipping expatriate employees from Japan.

Besides, Japanese with work experience in China and who can speak Mandarin are able to serve the companies better.

A latest survey in Shanghai showed two in three China-based Japanese firms hiring Japanese belonging to the manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, the demand for Japanese in the services sector is on the rise.

However, those Japanese managers hired in China may suffer a pay cut of at least 50 per cent, Mr Matsuda told the Financial Times.

"But these people are generally not that concerned about pay. Rather, they are keen to put their experience and expertise to good use," he added.

Mr Kazuhiro Matsufuji was under pressure at 55 to take early retirement from a Japanese food manufacturing company he worked for.

But now at 65, he is back at work in China as a senior project leader at Lead-S, another recruitment company that introduces Japanese workers to China.

Moreover, not all Japanese workers in China suffer a pay cut, if their experience happens to be what China yearns for.

Recruitment agencies reveal that experienced Japanese production managers and engineers with expertise in advanced technologies such as solar batteries and electric cars can earn good money in China.

Some metalworking engineers can rake in as much as 50,000 yuan (US$7,835) a month, according to Lead-S.

Mr Darryl Green, the executive vice- president for ManpowerGroup, a workforce services provider that has placed 1,000 Japanese managers in jobs in China over the last 18 months, says Japanese engineers are "a great source of... experience for emerging market countries".

These engineers, who may not secure a top position in Japan, were lured to China by high salaries and benefits, he added.

"They're a bit like movie stars with their contracts," Mr Green told the Financial Times.

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