New avenue for employers to boost talent connectivity between Hong Kong and Mainland China: Jobsdb by SEEK joins forces with Zhaopin

Seeing as Mainland talent accounted for the largest proportion of those who came to work in Hong Kong in 2023, the two parties will launch more cross-border recruitment products and services.

In response to the increasing recruitment demand in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), employment marketplace Jobsdb by SEEK has entered into a strategic partnership with China's career development platform Zhaopin. This will help to expand the cross-border talent pool available to employers and enhance talent connectivity between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

This timely development is on the back of Hong Kong Government's data that shows the number of approved Mainland hires entering Hong Kong surpassed 57,000 last year, a 1.4-fold increase compared to 23,000 in 2022. Further, the Jobseeker Salary Report 2024 by Jobsdb indicates that Mainland China has, for the first time, entered the top three most desirable overseas work destinations amongst Hong Kong jobseekers, with 37% of respondents and 45% of those aged 25 or below considering it as their preferred location.

As such, under the partnership, Jobsdb and Zhaopin will jointly develop diverse cross-border recruitment products and services to streamline the cross-border hiring process for employers and deliver a more seamless recruitment experience for both employers and jobseekers, promoting the mission of “Powerful GBA Fusion Talent Recruitment without Boundaries”.

The ceremony draws an impressive crowd of over 400 industry professionals, including employers and HR leaders.

These products and services, aimed to support employers and talent acquisition teams, include the following.

Cross-posting job ad services

Instead of repeatedly posting the same job ads across multiple platforms, employers can now publish their job postings simultaneously on both Jobsdb and Zhaopin. This empowers employers to access and recruit from a diverse pool of candidates simultaneously across the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Mainland China, and overseas markets, while allowing Hong Kong's jobseekers to explore career opportunities in Mainland China.

Hybrid recruitment fairs

As a platform for recruitment and engagement, Jobsdb and Zhaopin will continue hosting live ‘Virtual Career Fair’, enabling employers from both Hong Kong and Mainland China to:

• recruit professional talents across different industries,
• promote their company's unique strengths and corporate culture, as well as
• conduct instant online interviews, and directly engage and communicate with talent from both regions.

Felicia Qin, Regional General Manager, South China of Zhaopin, shares her perspective on the latest GBA recruitment trends.

Campus recruitment

As part of their efforts to cultivate a pipeline of new talent across various industries, Jobsdb and Zhaopin will strengthen their presence on university campuses and continue hosting campus recruitment fairs in the future. It is expected that these will help employers to directly connect with fresh graduates and better prepare the latter for their future careers.

The two parties will also conduct informative talks on university campuses to provide relevant job-seeking guidance to graduates interested in developing their careers in Hong Kong. Representatives will share insights into the job search and interview process in Hong Kong, as well as provide an overview of the local workplace culture and living experiences, helping graduates better understand the employment landscape in Hong Kong and alleviate anxiety or concerns they may have about working in the city.

Commenting on the partnership, Bill Lee, Managing Director, Hong Kong, Jobsdb by SEEK (pictured below), said: “As the interconnection and interchange of talents between Hong Kong and Mainland China is poised to be a growing trend, Jobsdb is delighted to enter into an exclusive partnership with Zhaopin.

“Leveraging our industry expertise and cross-market understanding of job-seeking culture, we aim to provide employers and candidates with a smoother recruitment and job-seeking experience. Through our partnership, we will launch more cross-border recruitment products and services. This will expand job opportunities in the Greater Bay Area for Hong Kong jobseekers, and concurrently help mainland talent connect better with local employers, improving recruitment efficiency.”

Bill Lee, Managing Director, Hong Kong, Jobsdb by SEEK, states the exclusive partnership with Zhaopin aims to cater to the growing trend of cross-border recruitment.

Felicia Qin, Regional General Manager, South China, Zhaopin (pictured below), added: “The GBA, as a key area for high-quality economic development in China, has consistently attracted outstanding talent from all over the country.

“Zhaopin boasts a substantial pool of active jobseekers, with over nine million individuals meeting the talent admission requirements set by Hong Kong. We believe our strategic partnership with Jobsdb will provide jobseekers across borders with an expanded range of high-quality employment opportunities.”

Felicia Qin, Regional General Manager, South China of Zhaopin, shares how the partnership will help foster GBA talent interconnection and interchange.

All photos / Provided (Lead photo: Bill Lee, Managing Director, Hong Kong, Jobsdb by SEEK (right) and Felicia Qin, Regional General Manager, South China of Zhaopin (left) at the Launching Ceremony of GBA Talent Recruitment Strategic Partnership.)