Jobsdb by SEEK announces strategic partnership with Zhaopin to promote seamless cross-border recruitment empowering employers to efficiently hire talent across Hong Kong and Mainland China

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HONG KONG, June 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Jobsdb by SEEK, Hong Kong’s leading employment marketplace, today signed a strategic partnership agreement with Zhaopin, China’s leading career development platform, at the Greater Bay Area Strategic Collaboration Ceremony, marking a significant step towards enhancing talent connectivity between Hong Kong and Mainland China by bringing forth a new recruitment experience.

In response to the increasing recruitment demand in the GBA, the partnership aims to expand the cross-border talent pool available to employers, promoting “Powerful GBA Fusion Talent Recruitment without Boundaries”. Job postings from both platforms will be simultaneously published, enabling employers across the Asia-Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas markets, to simultaneously access and recruit from a diverse pool of candidates. It will empower employers to better fulfill their diverse hiring needs across different markets. Hong Kong’s jobseekers can also leverage the Jobsdb platform to access a plethora of job opportunities in Mainland China, discovering exciting new career prospects.

Cross-posting job ads and hybrid recruitment fairs to connect talent across border

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 experience for both employers and jobseekers. Both parties will work on interconnecting their job ad platforms. Through Jobsdb’s platform, Hong Kong employers can now opt to simultaneously publish their job postings on both Jobsdb and Zhaopin. This will allow them to instantly reach mainland talent via Zhaopin’s database, without the need to repeatedly post the same job ads across multiple platforms. Conversely, job postings on Zhaopin can also be published on Jobsdb. This seamless cross-posting of job ads will provide Hong Kong jobseekers much greater access to career opportunities in China.

Jobsdb and Zhaopin also plan to continue hosting “Virtual Career Fair” going forward. Through the events, employers from both Hong Kong and Mainland China will be able to recruit professional talents across different industries. Beyond simply showcasing the diverse career opportunities available across the border, the live recruitment fairs will also provide employers a platform to promote their company’s unique strengths and corporate culture. Crucially, employers will be able to conduct instant online interviews during these live sessions, allowing them to directly engage and communicate with talent from both regions.

Nurture fresh graduate and acquaint them with local job market knowledge

In addition to helping employers identify experienced talent, Jobsdb and Zhaopin also place great emphasis on cultivating a pipeline of new talent across various industries. The two parties will strengthen their presence on university campuses, with plans to continue hosting campus recruitment fairs in the future. These initiatives aim to help employers directly connect with fresh graduates and better prepare them for their future careers.

Jobsdb and Zhaopin 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. The goal is to help graduates better understand the employment landscape in Hong Kong and alleviate anxiety or concerns they may have about working in the city.

As exchanges and business collaborations between Mainland China and Hong Kong become more frequent, the demand for mainland talent amongst Hong Kong employers has been steadily on the rise. According to Hong Kong Government data, mainland talent accounted for the largest proportion of those who came to work in Hong Kong in 2023, with the number of approved mainland hires surpassing 57,000 last year, a 1.4-fold increase compared to 23,000 in 2022^[1]. Concurrently, a growing number of young local people are seeking opportunities to advance their careers in the mainland. 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 mainland China as their preferred location.

Bill Lee, Managing Director, Hong Kong, Jobsdb by SEEK, 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. Our initiative hopes to support the Hong Kong Government’s policy to attract mainland talent to work in Hong Kong.”

Felicia Qin, Regional General Manager, South China of Zhaopin, said, “With the high-quality development of China’s economy, the rapid movement of talented individuals across different regions within China has become a norm. The GBA, as a key area for high-quality economic development in China, has consistently attracted outstanding talent from all over the country. Recent survey data from Zhaopin indicates that there has been a growing interest amongst highly educated jobseekers in the GBA to find employment opportunities in Hong Kong. In 2024, more than 64% of respondents holding a Doctorate degree and over 59% of those with a Master’s degree expressed their willingness to work in Hong Kong. Zhaopin boasts a substantial pool of active jobseekers, with over 9 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.”

About Jobsdb by SEEK

Jobsdb is the leading employment platform in Hong Kong and Thailand, helping people live more fulfilling and productive working lives and helping organisations succeed. It is a subsidiary of SEEK, a diverse group of companies comprised of a strong portfolio of online employment, educational, commercial and volunteer businesses. SEEK is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and has a strong presence across the APAC region, including six Asian markets – Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – through the Jobsdb and Jobstreet brands. SEEK attracts over 500 million visits a year in Asia.

About Zhaopin

Established in 1994, Zhaopin has over 349 million registered jobseekers, cooperates with more than 13.41 million companies, and has partnerships with over 2,800 universities in China. As of now, Zhaopin has set up 35 branch offices nationwide, with business operations covering over 400 cities in China. Zhaopin focuses on covering the entire career of jobseekers, matching three types of products: career assessment, recruitment, and education training, and creating a platform for the comprehensive development of workplace professionals through online, offline, and mobile channels.