Report: Shanghai a hub for those with overseas education

LinkedIn report shows that modern work environments and forward-thinking mindsets have made the city a magnet for those with global perspectives

Shanghai is the Chinese city that has the highest ratio of employees who have been educated abroad, but this has not translated into an advantage in producing senior employees, according to a report released on July 19 by LinkedIn and Shanghai’s Xuhui district government.

The report compiled information from more than 430 million users of LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 20 million users in China, and focuses on four key industries — advanced manufacturing, finance, Internet and software, medical treatment and healthcare.

Based on the findings, the proportion of talent in Shanghai who have studied overseas is 20.4 percent, as compared to the national average of 12 percent.

The percentage of such employees across the four industries is also the highest in Shanghai. More than one in six employees in the advanced manufacturing sector have been educated overseas, roughly twice that of the ratio in Shenzhen, another hub for advanced manufacturing in Guangdong province.

“Shanghai, with its open attitude and modern workplace environments, has been an attractive destination for many overseas returnees. Their global perspective and mentality of competition and cooperation in the workplace contribute to Shanghai’s quest to become a global center of scientific and technological innovation,” said Yu Zhiwei, vice-president of LinkedIn China.

However, the report also found that Shanghai has little advantage over other Chinese cities with regard to a senior talent pool. The report classifi senior talent as those who have been in their industries for 10 years and more.

“It may take just three years to be an expert in some industries, while in others, it may take two decades. There’s a big difference in defining ‘senior talent’ in different fields,” said Yu.

The report showed that the average number of senior personnel across the four industries in Shanghai is similar to that in other Chinese cities, but it still lags far behind those in some foreign cities.

For example, people with more than 10 years of working experience account for up to 22 percent of the total employees in the medical and healthcare sectors in Shanghai, close to the 20 percent in Beijing. Over in Boston, Massachusetts, the percentage is nearly double at 42 percent.

Yu said that one of the main reasons for this relatively small pool of people in senior roles is that some of the highly experienced employees opt to work overseas. Another reason is that some industries are still young in the country.

Shanghai was also ranked as the most developed in terms of workplace environment in China. The city has been found to have the most active professional networking scene, the largest number of job opportunities and the place where employees tend to develop the closest ties in the workplace, according to LinkedIn.

“When someone in Shanghai quits his or her job, the person is likely to be able to find another in a relatively short time via peers in the industry. However, such individuals may remain unemployed for a year if this happens in another city,” Yu said.