Halfpats: the New Expatriate
In terms of human resources, the current debate is focused on the continued need for multinational corporations in China to increase hiring of local staff, particularly for operations management, while decreasing or completely removing expatriate staff. Reasons for this shift away from expatriate staff include the high cost of salary and benefit packages, questionable value (in terms of productivity and ability to drive the business), high failure rates and most recently, the large readily available talent pool of expatriates already based in China (“halfpats”).
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May 31st, 2008 at 3:39 am
I was a half-pat for 5 years in Beijing and worked at Chinese and international PR companies. I left China a month ago because it got too expensive to live on my salary. Many of the well seasoned, half-pats that I know in China are now leaving as well. We went to China to learn the language and culture and got by on the less-than-perfect pay. However, as we got married and started to have families, our half-pat salary could not support our lifestyle. So we had no choice but to go home. This is a shame because often times, we know the culture and customs better than the less skilled, newly arrived half-pats.
In my opinion, there will be fewer half-pats willing to work for the low wages that local and international companies provide, even though it is more than locals get. As half-pats become more skilled, they demand more in salary and benefits. Hiring numerous half pats is dangerous for a company (teaching English aside) because they come and go often and are sometimes not as skilled. Just because a foreigner can speak English doesn’t mean they can/will do a better job than a local hire. However, I have found that half-pats are necessary for some jobs that locals don’t have the skills to do. Pay your half-pats above average for the market and it will be easier to keep them.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Actually, 5 years ago, no one Halfpat would have answered any of our job offer. Today I get at least 5 halpats for any offer, plus one or two from anywhere in the world!
I pay them more than locals, not because they are foreigners but for 2 very precise reasons:
- they normally speak at least 2 foreign languages. (I mean they DO speak the language)
- they understand the “western” way of doing biz.
(Please note that our company exports to 53 countries worldwide.)
However, if a Chinese or a Halfpat stays with us for 2 or 3 years, their salary will be 100% up to their ability and can reach very good levels.
I also seems to me that many Halfpats think that having been around 4 or 5 years in China warrants the title of “expert in chinese culture” or similar and therefore expect high salaries.
For my part, the only thing that warrants any title, hence more money, is the specific experience you have gained during your stay in China and what you can do with it.
I really doubt very much that any sensible company will part with a valuable member of staff for a few thousand RMB…and if they do with you, please contact me !