24 Jul Global Mobility Managers Need to Keep Offering Better Options to Talents

At a time when foreign talents are increasingly becoming in-demand, global mobility managers from all parts of the world should not be complacent or ultra-confident in their hiring. While countries like the United States, Canada, and Singapore will remain top of mind for talents out there, global mobility managers and recruiters living in them should not will always think they can get the best talent available.

This goes even for highly attractive employment destinations like Northern California where the best talents of Silicon Valley rule. One thing to remember:  Nations and regions that might not be as “preferred” are stepping up their game and are pulling up all stops to get the cream of the crop. If the usual employer of choice slows down or rests a little, the competition just might outrun them and persuade the best talents to sign up.

Global mobility managers living in the comfortable and prosperous West should take note of the following movements:

Chinese immigrants might have a harder time entering the U.S. due to the current policies of the current administration, but their kindred spirits at home are actually opening wide the doors for foreign talents to come in.

According to Nature, China’s Thousand Talents Plan is now on its tenth year of recruitment and still going strong. Under this policy, Chinese universities and companies have been actively recruiting both Chinese talents who have immigrated overseas, as well as high-quality foreign talents that are more than willing to advance their horizons in cities like Beijing and Peking. American, Asian, and European professors, teaches, scientists, scientific researchers, and tech professionals are being given the red carpet.

The standards are high: applicants must have taught in a famous university and had their research and findings published or written about. On the other hand, the package being offered them is not peanuts either: a starting bonus of about $151,000; meal allowances, relocation expenses, subsidized schooling for the kids, job opportunities for the spouses, and paid vacations in their home countries.

The next aggressive recruiters are Israeli-owned tech companies based in other countries. Mostly startups, their reasons are economic:  locals in the countries where they are based tend to charge lower than Israeli programmers, web developers, and engineers back home. Haaretz reports that these tech hubs have been successful in hiring promising and qualified talents from countries like Belorussia, Bulgaria, India, Macedonia, and Romania. Some of the salaries are said to compete with the ones being offered in Silicon Valley. Global mobility managers who want to create a talent pipeline in these places would do well to scout their Israeli competition.

Another country that is about to throw its recruitment hat into the ring is Singapore. The Asian economic powerhouse has been protective in so far as hiring foreign talents is concerned. Work visas in sectors like construction and marine have been reduced significantly the past years. However, according to Today Online, the government has been seriously rethinking this closed-door policy because of an aging population.

About 14 percent of its population is in their middle 60s, and this number is expected to reach 25 percent. New, fresh talent with a capacity for hard work and a nose for opportunity is needed to fill in the country’s rising dynamic sectors. Foreign countries are one source.

These days, global mobility managers are advised to check not just the location where promising assignees live — but where their more aggressive headhunting counterparts are also headed to.