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Ivo Hahn, the CEO of the China office of executive search consultants Stanton Chase, said that in the last six months, air pollution has become an issue for candidates they approach. "It pops up increasingly that people say, 'Well, we don't want to move to Beijing,' or
'I can't convince my family to move to Beijing,'" he said. Two expats, one Western and one an overseas Chinese, recently turned down general manager and managing director positions because of the air pollution, he said. Hahn thinks this trend will only strengthen over the next one or two years because the highest-level executives generally "are not working primarily for their survival." "They normally get a decent pay, they are generally reasonably well taken care of, so the quality of life, actually it does matter, particularly when they have children," he said. Some, however, say that China has become too important economically for up-and-coming corporate executives to ignore. It generates a large and growing share of profits for global companies while still offering a vast untapped potential. Its auto industry, now the world's largest by number of vehicles sold, is expected to outstrip the U.S. and Europe combined by 2020 as car ownership rises from a low level of 50 vehicles per 1,000 people. "It's increasingly important for people who want to have careers as managers in multinational companies to have international experience and as part of their career path, and in terms of international experience, China is one of the most desirable places because of the size of the market and growth and dynamism of the market," said Christian Murck, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. Carl Hopkins, Asia managing partner of legal search firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, said Chinese nationals who had studied abroad at top universities or business schools were reluctant to return unless they had elderly family to take care of. "There is an unwillingness for these people to return to China because they have got a better standard of living in the States or somewhere else than going to Beijing and Shanghai with its current issues with pollution," Hopkins said, adding that this had become more prevalent over the last year. Hahn said the effects of expats refusing to relocate to China aren't going to be felt overnight, but eventually "either companies will have to pay a higher price overall because maybe candidates may have to commute as an example, or they may lower their standards or they may offer the position to somebody who may actually not be quite as qualified." If the current trend hardens, it would have some economic impact, said Alistair Thornton, senior China economist at IHS in Beijing. "Expats contribute almost nothing to China's growth because the numbers are just tiny, but intangibly they contribute quite a significant amount" by introducing foreign technology, best practices and Western management techniques "that Chinese companies are harnessing and using to drive growth," said Thornton. He is leaving Beijing in June, with air pollution one factor.
[Associated
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