The Size of the Talent Pool

The good news is that the number of Chinese University graduates is growing year on year. 1,450,000 students graduated in 2002 and an amazing 4,130,000 in 2005.(5)

According to the McKinsey Global Institute Labor Supply Database, there are approximately 1.2 million university graduates with the right profile for MNC's. Fortunately for those in the software industry in China, who are looking to set up branch offices, there is an abundance of talent nationwide. In fact, over 70% of the university supply is outside of the main cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Zhenzhou, etc.

Furthermore, the Chinese Government has identified IT as one of China's favored industries, and there has been significant investment in growing the talent pool. To date 771 Computer Science Departments in colleges have been established and in 2004 China produced 351,537 computer engineering graduates compared with in the US (137,437) and India (112,000).(6)(7).

It is however, not just the IT and software companies who have their eyes on the best of these graduates. With easily transferable skills, these computer engineering graduates are attractive to many multinationals.