Recruiting from their backyard

As business picks up, Asia's marcoms companies are launching into their first significant recruitment drive in years, and are again discovering acute skill shortages, particularly in strategic planning and upper-tier creative. Once these positions would have been filled by Westerners flown in from far away at great expense, but now agencies are looking closer to home, leading to a new breed of expat from Asia. "We're trying to look more within the region, or at least trying that first," explains Nadia Pan, regional human resources director for Leo Burnett. It is cheaper to fly someone across Asia than it is to bring them from the US or Europe, and acclimitisation is likely to be easier for someone from within the region. "Although cultures are very different it is not going to be a bigger shock," Pan says. However, there are also strategic reasons for the move. Leo Burnett is chasing more local contracts and needs more local staff to service them. As part of its move to localise, it has introduced a number of initiatives to enhance the skills and broaden the experience of staffers within the network. This includes an exchange programme called Swap, offering medium-level staff who have been earmarked for greater things a stint in a Leo Burnett office elsewhere in the region. "The trend is to localise the account servicing teams to keep costs down, but at the same time to maximise the performance of the local accounts," comments Richard Broadhurst, senior consultant for the sales and marketing division of recruitment agency, Ambition. The gradual demise of the regional budget has also reduced the need for Western experience to manage regional accounts he notes. Although the trend towards Asian expats has been emerging for some time, its development is likely to be quickened by the new job opportunities created by the improving economic climate, and non-Western expat communities, such as Singaporeans and Malaysians in Beijing, are set to flourish. China's robust economy is also sucking up marcoms talent from around the region. In its first Asia-Pacific Salary Monitor, Aquent noted that China's first tier cities were continuing to invest heavily in the acquisition of skilled local, regional and international talent. Based on its survey findings, and despite efforts to tame China's runaway economy, the HR consultancy believes the mainland will be embarking on a hiring frenzy in the next 12 months, creating staffing demands that will have to be met largely outside the country. This import of talent into China won't be limited to the traditional source markets of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Aquent's Hong Kong manager Duncan Cunningham believes that demand is so great that China will have to look further afield, including at non-Chinese speaking markets like India. "The issue is the impact this will have on the markets where China will be drawing talent, because these markets are facing a skills shortage and are starting to recruit as their economies improve." Some Asian countries, however, are more likely to produce expats than others. Singaporeans and Malaysians are working all over Asia, offering good language skills, as are Indian expats, bringing with them the experience of a sophisticated market. However, examples from other markets are thinner on the ground. Some Hong Kongers and Taiwanese are lured away from their mature markets by the challenges of China, though the salary cut this move involves did initially put off a few. But a grim Hong Kong economy in recent years has helped locals see the benefit of a career in China. India is also contributing heavily to the ranks of Asian expats. More than a handful of agencies in Asia are headed by Indian expats such as Bhaskar Rao at FCB, D Sriram at Starcom, Sorab Mistry at McCann-Erickson and recently Sonal Dabral at Ogilvy & Mather, all in Singapore; along withAmbar Bramachary at J. Walter Thompson Japan. However, for expats from other countries, either a lack of language skills, experience, or both have kept the number going abroad down. Although agenices are looking to staunch the costly benefits enjoyed by Western expats in days gone by Asian expats are still competing with Westerners for jobs. "What I found is Americans or Australians who are happy to receive the local package," comments Catherine Kwong, manager of the sales and marketing team at recruitment consultant Hudson. Well-established Western expats can also offer local nous in a market like China, where experience is invaluable. "It's not just communication, it's understanding of China's market mentalities," Kwong adds. "If you live in China you may not know the language but you understand the culture." Leo Burnett's Pan says: "We will also look at expats who have been in the region for a long time, regardless of nationality." Although language can be critical for some jobs such as client servicing roles, in others, such as strategic planning, the kind of experience picked up from working on big consumer goods accounts in the West is still key, with agencies still having to look outside of Asia for talent. Nevertheless, language skills will become increasingly important and demand for Asian expats will rise. "I think it is easier for Asian expats to move within Asia," observes SiewPing Lim, a Malaysian who is currently managing director of MindShare's office in Guangzhou. "Everybody says it is easier for Asian expats to pick up the languages. And there are big cultural differences but it is relatively easier for an Asian." Training programmes initiated by agencies are also beginning to shape new talent. "Most 4As agencies are very good at developing training and development programmes for their junior levels," comments Gemma Sze, senior consultant at MRI Worldwide. These have eased the pressure to locate staff at certain levels, although there is speculation that some agencies relaxed these programmes during the recent succession of business crises, which will create further shortages in the future. With the speed the marketplace is set to grow, some question whether Asia will ever nurture enough talent to keep up. "There will always be a need for external expertise in Asia," muses Broadhurst. "The advertising industry is still developing here."