China goes on tech-hiring binge; wages surge

CHINA’s war for technology talent is intensifying.

Tens of thousands of people are being hired to shore up cybersecurity, help censor online content, and try to make China no. 1 in the application of artificial intelligence (AI), as capital pours into both start-ups and more mature businesses at a time when the government is demanding rapid development.

“Companies are well-funded and are in serious competition for talent,” said Thomas Liang, a former executive at Chinese search giant Baidu who is now running an AI–focused fund. He said that startups in hot sectors like AI often have to offer 50-100% pay raises to attract employees away from established technology firms.

China’s emergence as a global centre for technology, with champions such as Alibaba and Tencent now worth more than a trillion dollars combined, has led to a hiring boom and wage growth that starts to puts salaries for the top talent within striking distance of those offered in Silicon Valley.

And while that should please the Chinese government as it seeks to create higher- paying jobs and move up the value chain, it could also add to income inequality in China as wages in nontech jobs lag, and as the sector’s recruitment and income gains tend to be concentrated in the biggest cities such as Beijing and Shenzhen.

Technology is certainly a major driver of growth in China. Output in China’s information technology and software sector expanded by 33.8% year on year in the fourth quarter, compared with 29% growth in the third quarter, according to data from the statistics bureau.

In China, top graduates working on AI can command salaries of 300,000 yuan ($ 47,066) to 600,000 yuan a year, according to tech recruitment Web site 100offer.com, while team leaders with three- to- five years of experience can make more than 1.5 million yuan annually. Many of these jobs are in Beijing or Shenzhen.

Liang estimates salaries in the industry have roughly doubled since 2014. —