For expats here the red carpet keeps a rolling

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By Brendan John Worrell (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-04-29 17:17

As International Worker's Day approaches Friday countries are working together to resist trade protectionism while at the same time some quietly tighten work visas for foreigners.

In contrast here more than 20 some say 30, million Chinese are presently jobless – while for job-seeking expats the red carpet keeps a rolling as local firms and state owned enterprises seek to skills build.

It's nothing new. For many years foreigners in China have been favorably treated – better pay, better perks but fewer hours – basically the complete opposite of the way Chinese are treated when they are abroad.

Let's look at my Chinese friend's experience back in Australia. She had a Master's Degree, was studying for another, spoke excellent English yet had to wait tables at night to make less than the minimum wage.

Some Aussies would utter how she was stealing a job from a local yet she was doing work that most didn't want because they could get social security benefits that paid more!

This was in the good times of the economy and I fear for such expat workers outside of China now who may be open to criticism from frustrated locals.

To compare International Worker's Day reminds me of the first job I got here in Xi'an where I was paid 33% more then a local teacher who was teaching 33% more classes than me!

Moreover I was granted a lush apartment with cable TV, and heating while the Chinese teacher was shacked up in a cockroach compartment shared with other staff, with limited heating and no TV.

Nevertheless amid the inequity I was always welcomed in the staffroom and made to feel a part of the team. It's what kept me here, it's where I met my wife and it's where I became fluent in the favoritism as it applies to certain foreigners working in China.

Now I appreciate the value of a foreign native speaker in education though students, parents and department heads must realize there is a limit to the real instruction and learning that arises from just a foreign face. I believe this may also apply to other industries as well.

On the flipside foreign workers are obliged to look inside themselves and deliver - doing justice to the favorable treatment they receive. Fortunately I'd say the majority do.

On to my second job in China down in the south where I was again given three times more pay than the local teacher who was again teaching three times as many classes and grading three times as much homework.

Fellow staff members were great to me though I couldn't help feeling that they were far more effective in the language classroom in terms of disciplining their students, getting them to acquire new grammar and complete homework.

The real winner was when both local and foreign worker combined and then the results were apparent – far beyond either of us in isolation. Ideally within this more attention could be placed to integrate the foreign hired help into the local work place decision making process.

To here in the media in Beijing and again I'm conscious of the reality that sees foreign staff often fresh out of college being granted salaries far beyond even senior management that in some cases have been in the organization for over two decades!

In my job editing I work with many diligent Chinese staff who have exceptional grammar and pinpoint vision that pick up mistakes I frequently don't notice. Personally I often create more headaches and make more mistakes than the bestowed title of 'foreign expert' entitles me to.

Appreciating this I wonder if privileged expats like me in China today are living on borrowed time before more equity is brought into the employment equation.

In the book, "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't" the author Jim Collins and his team spent over 5 years researching some of the best performing companies and discovered in the end that it wasn't the hiring of external staff that led to sustainable prolific growth.

Researchers found it was the utilization of local, 'humble' insiders who, once given increased responsibility, brought about robust mid to long term positive change.

Human resource departments may take note as this has relevance for the Chinese workplace and many developing countries that are inclined to trust and favor foreign staff over their own.

To be frank I feel it's me who has learnt more here rather than the other way around.

Anyway before I write myself out of a job, on this May Day 2009 let me salute all those local Chinese who let me join their team, who trusted me and made my working stay in the middle kingdom a memorable and productive one.

Have a happy holiday.

Contact Brendan: bigbadbrendan@gmail.com