Archive for the ‘Chinese software developers’ tag
Overcoming the Software Developer Experience Gap in China
This article discusses how the experience level of software developers in China has caused challenges for software outsourcing companies when competing with Indian competitors. However, as the software industry in China matures over the next six years, the experience level of Chinese developers will edge closer to international standards.
My last post before the holidays, Chinese software services revenue predictions fall short, discusses how the Chinese offshore services industry has not met analyst predictions in previous years, but did not get into why. One reason China has not reached expectations, is software development experience within the country.
The graph on the left shows an impressive increase in software related University graduates over the past ten years, but when developing software, experience is more important than number of developers assigned to a project. Analysts predict only 5%-10% of software developers in China have the skills and experience necessary to work on projects for Western companies. The difficulty to consistently build effective teams from China’s current labor market is a key issue being faced by software outsourcing companies in China.
Has the economic crisis helped outsourcing companies in China?
Richard Brubaker’s article 20 Million Chinese Migrants Out Of Work discusses how the economic crisis has begun to affect the Chinese employment market. Many companies in China are scaling back, increasing China’s unemployed. A decreased demand for Chinese software developers would benefit Chinese software outsourcing companies battling a skilled labor shortage causing wage inflation and increased turnover. However, a further look into Chinese outsourcing companies recruitment efforts shows that the economic down turn has not significantly affected the demand for skilled resources.
In China, online recruitment websites account for the majority of software outsourcing companies job applicants and recruiting budgets. Zhaopin.com is the Chinese equivalent of monster.com and is used by most outsourcing companies in China for recruitment. A search of the number of jobs posted on zhaopin.com is a indication of open positions at outsourcing companies and recruiting budgets.
IT career opportunities in China
Last night I was introduced to a potential software developer in the Chinese software outsourcing industry. His English name was Dragon (a very popular name among Chinese men, I have met several Dragon’s over the past couple of years), and he is a 30 year old medical doctor. Dragon recently decided to change careers and has left the medical profession and returned to University to study IT. My perception of Dragon was very positive and he came across as professional and well educated, as one would expect from a doctor. It seemed he spoke decent English but it was still more convenient for us to communicate in Chinese. In the west, a physician is considered a prestigious career, so I was interested in his reasons for making the switch. Dragon had a very different perception of his chosen profession as he explained his frustrations with the bureaucracy and inefficiencies of the Chinese medical system and desire for a faster paced career with more opportunities for advancement.
Loading ...
