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翟华:经济危机使美国毕业生涌向中国

2009/8/15 14:30 作者:木糖纯 点击:1495 评论:0 条 【
纽约时报8月11日发表题为American Graduates Finding Jobs in China(美国毕业生到中国找工作)的文章,作者HANNAH SELIGSON。摘要如下(原文附后):






面对国内近双位数的失业率,对近来毕业的美国大学生而言,上海和北京是新的机遇之地。
甚至是那些对中国所知不多或者一无所知的人,都听到了召唤。中国蒸蒸日上的经济、较低成本的生活吸引着他们,而且意味着有机会绕开在美国开展第一份工作常常要吃的一些苦头。
中国最大的汽车零件公司之一亚新科技术(Asimco Technologies)的创始人潘考夫斯基(Jack Perkowski)表示,“在过去几年,我看到来中国工作的年轻人数量大增。”“我1994年来中国的时候,是美国人涌向中国的第一次大潮。如今的这些年轻人则属于第二次大潮。”


上海麦肯锡公司伙伴华强森(Jonathan Woetzel)自八十年代中期开始在中国生活,他认为,和几年前相比,有更多的美国人来到中国,投身创业热潮。“中国如今正在进行大量试验,特别是在能源领域,人年轻的时候愿意来尝试新事物。”


而且中国经济对企业家和求职者都更为热情,最近一个季度,中国GDP增长7.9%,据政府数据,城市地区失业率为4.3%。


2006年毕业的伯曼(Sarabeth Berman)当初来北京时得到一份同龄人在美国难以得到的工作:雷动天下现代舞公司(BeijingDance/LDTX)的项目总监。


伯曼说她之所以获聘,是因为她熟悉西方现代舞,而并非因为她熟悉中国。“尽管我缺乏语言技能,没有在中国工作过的经历,但我得到了管理巡演、国际项目的机会,以及制作及安排我们的北京年度舞蹈节的机会。”


雷动天下的艺术总监曹诚渊 (Willy Tsao)表示,他之所以聘用伯曼,是因为她有能力在中国之外建立联系。“我需要一个有能力跟西方世界沟通的人。”


曹诚渊又表示,西方人往往可以带来中国人当中较难发现的技能。“伯曼总是主动思考我们可以做什么,而更加标准的中国做法则是接受命令。”他认为这种差异的根源在于教育体系。“在中国的学校,人们鼓励学生要安静慎言,这培养了侧重聆听而不惯主动的文化。”


在来中国之前曾在华尔街度过近二十年的潘考夫斯基表示,很多中国企业寻求聘请一些母语为英语的人,以帮助它们应对美国市场。


然而在很多美国年轻人当中,中国退场战略是一个共同的讨论话题。伯曼和其他一些在中国工作的美国年轻人表示他们计划最终回到美国。


August 11, 2009
American Graduates Finding Jobs in China
By HANNAH SELIGSON
BEIJING — Shanghai and Beijing are becoming new lands of opportunity for recent American college graduates who face unemployment nearing double digits at home.
Even those with limited or no knowledge of Chinese are heeding the call. They are lured by China’s surging economy, the lower cost of living and a chance to bypass some of the dues-paying that is common to first jobs in the United States.
“I’ve seen a surge of young people coming to work in China over the last few years,” said Jack Perkowski, founder of Asimco Technologies, one of the largest automotive parts companies in China.
“When I came over to China in 1994, that was the first wave of Americans coming to China,” he said. “These young people are part of this big second wave.”
One of those in the latest wave is Joshua Arjuna Stephens, who graduated from Wesleyan University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies. Two years ago, he decided to take a temporary summer position in Shanghai with China Prep, an educational travel company.
“I didn’t know anything about China,” said Mr. Stephens, who worked on market research and program development. “People thought I was nuts to go not speaking the language, but I wanted to do something off the beaten track.”
Two years later, after stints in the nonprofit sector and at a large public relations firm in Beijing, he is highly proficient in Mandarin and works as a manager for XPD Media, a social media company based in Beijing that makes online games.
Jonathan Woetzel, a partner with McKinsey & Company in Shanghai who has lived in China since the mid-1980s, says that compared with just a few years ago, he was seeing more young Americans arriving in China to be part of an entrepreneurial boom. “There’s a lot of experimentation going on in China right now, particularly in the energy sphere, and when people are young they are willing to come and try something new,” he said.
And the Chinese economy is more hospitable for both entrepreneurs and job seekers, with a gross domestic product that rose 7.9 percent in the most recent quarter compared with the period a year earlier. Unemployment in urban areas is 4.3 percent, according to government data.
Grace Hsieh, president of the Yale Club in Beijing and a 2007 graduate, says she has seen a rise in the number of Yale graduates who have come to work in Beijing since she arrived in China two years ago. She is working as an account executive in Beijing for Hill & Knowlton, the public relations company.
Sarabeth Berman, a 2006 graduate of Barnard College with a major in urban studies, initially arrived in Beijing at the age of 23 to take a job that would have been difficult for a person her age to land in the United States: program director at BeijingDance/LDTX, the first modern dance company in China to be founded independently of the government.
Ms. Berman said she was hired for her familiarity with Western modern dance rather than a knowledge of China. “Despite my lack of language skills and the fact that I had no experience working in China, I was given the opportunity to manage the touring, international projects, and produce and program our annual Beijing Dance Festival.”
After two years of living and working in China, Ms. Berman is proficient in Mandarin. She travels throughout China, Europe and the United States with the dance company.
Willy Tsao, the artistic director of BeijingDance/LDTX, said he had hired Ms. Berman because of her ability to make connections beyond China. “I needed someone who was capable of communicating with the Western world.”
Another dynamic in the hiring process, Mr. Tsao says, is that Westerners can often bring skills that are harder to find among the Chinese.
“Sarabeth is always taking initiative and thinking what we can do,” he said, “while I think the more standard Chinese approach is to take orders.” He says the difference is rooted in the educational system. “In Chinese schools students are encouraged to be quiet and less outspoken; it fosters a culture of listening more than initiating.”
Mr. Perkowski, who spent almost 20 years on Wall Street before heading to China, says many Chinese companies are looking to hire native English speakers to help them navigate the American market.
“I’m working with a company right now that wants me to help them find young American professionals who can be their liaisons to the U.S.,” he said. “They want people who understand the social and cultural nuances of the West.”
Mr. Perkowski’s latest venture, JFP Holdings, a merchant bank based in Beijing, has not posted any job openings, but has received more than 60 résumés; a third are from young people in the United States who want to come work in China, he said.
Mick Zomnir, 20, a soon-to-be junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is working as a summer intern for JFP. “As things have gotten more difficult in the U.S., I started to think about opportunities elsewhere,” he said. He does not speak Chinese but says he will begin studying Mandarin when he returns to M.I.T. in the fall.
A big draw of working in China, many young people say, is that they feel it allows them to skip a rung or two on the career ladder.
Ms. Berman said: “There is no doubt that China is an awesome place to jump-start your career. Back in the U.S., I would be intern No. 3 at some company or selling tickets at Lincoln Center.”
For others, like Jason Misium, 23, China has solved the cash flow problem of starting a business. After graduating with a degree in biology from Harvard in 2008, Mr. Misium came to China to study the language. Then, with a friend, Matthew Young, he started Sophos Academic Group, an academic consulting firm that works with Chinese students who want to study in the United States.
“It’s China’s fault that I’m still here,” he said. “It’s just so cheap to start a business.” It cost him the equivalent of $12,000, which he had in savings, he said.
Among many young Americans, the China exit strategy is a common topic of conversation. Mr. Stephens, Ms. Berman and Mr. Misium all said they were planning to return to the United States eventually.
Mr. Woetzel of McKinsey said work experience in China was not an automatic ticket to a great job back home. He said it was not a marker in the same way an Ivy League education: “The mere fact of just showing up and working in China and speaking Chinese is not enough.”
That said, Mr. Woetzel added, someone who has been able to make a mark in China is a valuable hire.
“At McKinsey, we are looking for people who have demonstrated leadership,” he said, “and working in a context like China builds character, requires you to be a lot more entrepreneurial and forces you to innovate.”
 

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