Barriers to Entry

The unprecedented growth in commercial activity and corresponding increase in the number of Chinese enterprises that have expanded their presence in markets overseas has created new employment opportunities for non-Chinese staff and the number of foreigners who work for Chinese corporate entities has grown exponentially. As reference, over 15,000 workers employed by the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation in Africa are local hires; 20,000 local employees staff Huawei’s offices overseas and the company plans to add 5,000 staff in Europe alone over the next five years. These references, and others like them, form the outline for a new chapter in the history of foreigners employed by Chinese that is just now unfolding and illuminate a trend that will become even more prevalent and relevant as Chinese companies expand, acquire, and hire in countries around the world.

A historical review of foreigners in the employ of Chinese is worthwhile undertaking because it is a source of lessons and cases that foreigners employed by a Chinese firm today can turn to for insight and apply in meeting the challenges they are likely to encounter in the workplace. It also provides context for the most recent developments in the story of foreigners in the employ of Chinese and an understanding of the extent to which the present time marks a departure from the past. The positions that foreigners in the employ of Chinese hold today are, in many cases, of a commercial nature, quite different from the largely bureaucratic or imperial-related profiles that characterized the employment of those who preceded them. Moreover, they very likely have not made the journey all the way to China to seek employment, but have been hired by Chinese companies in the cities, towns and countries where they live.

The departure from the past that the 21st Century represents in the story of foreigners employed by Chinese is nowhere better illustrated than in China’s Aviation, Sports, and Fashion industries. All three industries owe the prominence they enjoy today to the Chinese consumer whose increasing wealth and purchasing power has put the services these industries offer within reach and in the process generated a whole host of new employment opportunities for foreigners who have the expertise and experience required to provide those services and satisfy demand. The foreign athletes, pilots and models who are engaged in these industries distinguish themselves from the foreign doctors, scientist-missionaries, and soldiers who preceded them most obviously in the professions they represent, but also in how they perceive China and how they view the role that working for a Chinese organization plays in both their personal and professional development.

The Chinese enterprise, in recent past, has transformed itself from a commercial entity whose sphere of operation was almost exclusively confined to the Chinese domestic market to one with global aspirations and an increasing appetite for revenues from markets overseas. To feed that appetite Chinese companies have turned increasingly to foreign talent for support both in their corporate headquarters and in the local offices they have established around the world. To illustrate how Chinese companies employ and engage foreign staff, how they position those staff within the company’s organizational fabric, and how they envision the role that foreign staff play in overall corporate development, this chapter presents cases drawn from Chinese hi-tech industry because the companies it comprises have been among the most aggressive in entering markets outside of China and among the largest employers of foreign talent.

This chapter complements the previous chapter that described the roles foreign employees play in realizing a Chinese company’s international aspirations by supplementing an experiential dimension to the elements already introduced. In this context, ‘experience’ refers to the working conditions and unique challenges foreign employees face once they have joined a Chinese company, but is defined broadly enough to encompass the very first encounter that a foreign employee, or potential employee, may have with a Chinese company and the initial impressions formed from that encounter.

Foreign staff in Chinese companies report that they very often find themselves marginalized and see very few opportunities for professional advancement. The exclusion a foreign employee working in a Chinese company experiences takes many forms: Linguistic, Organizational, Racial, etc. This chapter focuses on some of the most critical challenges foreigners face when working in a Chinese organization and introduces some of the more effective techniques and approaches they have taken to overcome those challenges. In taking steps to make the working environment in a Chinese company more conducive to foreign staff, the foreign employee will benefit from ongoing efforts Chinese firms are making to refine and improve the ways they approach, support, and integrate the increasing number of foreign professionals they hire.

Foreign employees in Chinese firms tend to dismiss the myriad events and activities that are fixtures of the Chinese workplace as frivolous, sophomoric, and even demeaning. In so doing, they misunderstand the significance of the role these activities play and underestimate how integral they are to a foreign employee’s ability to adapt to company culture and successfully integrate themselves into company’s daily operations. As quirky, impromptu, and disorderly as they may appear, corporate activities in a Chinese company are not just organized ‘for the fun of it’. They adhere to a set of conventions that situate them within a much larger system of political, social, cultural values and beliefs as well as play a central role in shaping corporate culture and transmitting the essence of that culture to the company’s employees, including those who represent the company’s operations overseas.

The foreign employee will likely have achieved some degree of fluency in Chinese, but will find that being able to communicate in Chinese language is no guarantee for being able to communicate effectively in a Chinese corporate environment as the language of corporate communications is distinct and follows a very different set of rules than the ones with which the foreign employee may be familiar or conversant.

The most consequential relationship that a foreign employee working in a Chinese company is likely to have is with a direct supervisor. With an eye towards ensuring that the relationship between employee and supervisor is a positive one, this chapter endeavors to present the supervisor’s view of the world and give the foreign employee an appreciation for the supervisor’s motivations, concerns, and expectations. It also addresses the basic and very practical issue of how the foreign employee should approach the Chinese boss and take first critical steps on the road to building a relationship that is satisfactory and mutually beneficial.

This chapter speculates on the shape the future of employment for foreigners in Chinese organizations might take. In formulating this future view, the chapter considers emerging political, technological, and demographic trends and assesses their potential impact. The picture that emerges is a complex one that presents both increases in the number of foreign employees Chinese firms will hire as well as decreases. Changes in commercial and political conditions may blunt the ambition of Chinese enterprises overseas and, as consequence, limit the number of foreign staff they hire. At the same time, developments such as the Belt and Road Initiative have the potential to stimulate an increase in the hiring of foreign staff. Developing an accurate or complete assessment is a complex endeavor that involves gauging the magnitude of change associated with any given dimension taking into account factors such as industry, skill, demand, etc.