Life

Dream jobs are now in China

By Andrea Hunt (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-02 07:50

Once considered a land of opportunity, November 2010's US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that there is only one job for every five unemployed US citizens today, so it is not surprising that a growing number of US jobseekers are uprooting themselves to look for work in China.

"I loved being in China when I came to study back in 2008-09, but also workwise, I got squeezed out in the States," explains Kong, 31, whose $12-an-hour substitute teaching job in San Francisco gradually vanished.

Already fluent in Cantonese and learning Mandarin, he took his chances and moved to Beijing in October 2010. After searching in a variety of sectors, he found a position with GuocoLand China, a multinational real estate development company.

But it's not just workers who have been made redundant, as college graduates under 25 are also having to face a shrinking job market.

Unwilling to take an unpaid internship, J. P. Stevenson, 22, moved to Beijing from Washington in September.

"One advantage of working here over the US is that it is much easier to switch industries here, as long as you have work experience in China. Here, I've had friends that have gone from working in PR to managing a five-star hotel. In the States, that just doesn't happen."

"Living in China at this time is a good opportunity to build a resume and get valuable work experience at posts and in industries that I never could have had access to at this stage in my professional career back home," said Ryan Lindgren, 27, from Massachusetts, who is a project supervisor for PR event planning at Marcom Motor Sports Beijing.

The lure of long-term career benefits aside, working in China doesn't come without a price, cautions David Pimentel, an English textbook author from Pennsylvania, who has worked in Beijing for three years.

"It's definitely hard being so far away from family sometimes, but the big decisions in life require some trade-offs."

Just having a salary and a better standard of living in China is enough to tempt many US jobseekers to leave their comfort zones. In Beijing, even making 150 yuan an hour ($18) as an English teacher part-time will allow for decent accommodation, meals at Western restaurants, and perhaps yearly vacations within Asia.

But it is the hope of financial stability and an increased awareness of China that continues to attract American job seekers, suggests Eric Liu, a Chinese consultant for ForeignHR International.