Candidates with extensive digital experience will be highly sought after as companies in China strive to better use information technologies to improve efficiency amid a rush to go digital, according to recruiting experts Hays in China.

This is one key finding from the latest Hays Quarterly Report, for the April to June quarter, which analyses the outlook of the job market.

Simon Lance, Managing Director of Hays in China says: 'The transition of China's economic growth model has prompted companies to re-assess their business strategies. The changing habits of consumers and the headwinds from the e-commerce have created huge demand for talents with abundant experience.

'Those candidates with experience in both online businesses and traditional industries are in high demand since employers speed up the development of digital marketing and restructuring of operations.

'The Internet Plus initiative proposed by the Chinese government is having a big impact on both domestic and multinational companies as they seek to make the most of IT technologies to expand their client base and promote their products and services.

The focus on consumer spending to buoy China's economy results in a severe shortage of capable sales people and marketing managers, according to Simon.

'The talents are expecting a big increase in salaries when thinking of job changes, and their current employers will have to offer a big pay rise to retain the professionals. Digital marketing and online sales will become an important part of the Chinese economy and the companies will also need to strengthen training to help employees better understand digitalised businesses.'

According to the Hays Quarterly Report for April to June, demand is highest for the following skilled professionals:

Senior Internal Control and Compliance professionals who have garnered enough experience will be in high demand;

Risk Control professionals, especially those with strong market knowledge, will be sought after as anti-money laundering becomes a serious issue facing the banking industry;

More roles including Education Advisors and School Representatives who can encourage and assist students with successful tests and school admission applications will be created as international education organisations expand in China;

Learning and Development roles are seeing strong demand as multinational and domestic companies step up efforts to build an internal training system;

Java Developers and Javascript Developers will be the two hot job positions due to the two languages' increasing popularity;

Compliance Counsels and IP Lawyers will be in high demand as companies look for experienced professionals to fill the roles;

Business Development Directors and Business Development Managers will remain in short supply as employers chase the limited number of candidates on the market;

We are seeing high demand for Validation Managers/Engineers who have new plant set-up and quality compliance experience;

Marketing & Branding professionals are expected to be actively chased as companies focus on building an effective marketing team;

Digital Marketing Managers will be in high demand as companies view digital marketing as an important communication and sales channel in China.

To read the full Hays Quarterly Report, including candidate and employer trends and future issues, please visit http://www.hays.cn/en/report/index.htm

Hays, the world's leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

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About Hays
Hays plc (the 'Group') is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2015 the Group employed 9,420 staff operating from 248 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2015:

- the Group reported net fees of £764.2 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £164.1 million;
- the Group placed around 63,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 200,000 people into temporary assignments;
- 23% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific, 41% in Continental Europe & RoW (CERoW) and 36% in the United Kingdom & Ireland;
- the temporary placement business represented 58% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 42% of net fees;
- Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA

Hays plc issued this content on 12 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 15 April 2016 11:04:04 UTC

Original Document: https://www.haysplc.com/media/press-releases/2016/pr-2016-04-12-b