Two media stories caught my attention this week, both of which indicate a significant shift in our concept of a good job with a livable wage, particularly in the East. Beyond highlighting challenges faced by the professional individual today, they may foretell new hurdles for Western companies that have either set up shop in China or are planning to do so in the near future.

The first story, featured in Monday’s New York Times, captures the attitude of young Japanese professionals who no longer have the stability of a long-term corporate job that provides a paycheck adequate enough to cover Japan’s astronomical cost of living. Gone are the days of the post-World War II salaryman and a guaranteed permanent gig upon graduation; in this new era, just one job no longer seems to be enough. Journalist Gearoid Reidy writes:

For decades, the standard career path in Japan was to graduate from college, join a company, and to stay there until retirement—one job for life. But with salaries down more than 12 percent over the last decade amid an uncertain labor market, young, mostly single Japanese are increasingly making ends meet by working second or even third jobs. Some deliver leaflets or work in convenience stores. Some trade foreign currencies online. Others sell items on Internet auction sites. A survey in January by the Internet market research company Ishare found that almost 17 percent of workers ages 20 to 50 had a side job.
Source: “Young Japanese Seek Second, and Third, Jobs” NYT, Sept. 6, 2010

The second story, which has gained a lot of attention from both China’s netizens and mainstream media outlets but has thus far been overlooked by Western journalists is the apparent change in attitude about white collar jobs in China. According to Xinhua news agency:

Back in the early years of reform and opening up, large numbers of foreign-funded corporations came into view and employees at these companies carried with them a certain kind of glamour in the eyes of the nation because of their elegant attire, high incomes, and great quality of life. The public called them “white collar workers,” a word that came from the West. Now, to mention a white-collar worker conjures an image of dressing well on a crowded bus or subway and struggling to hardly afford a house. The term “white collar” has lost its appeal and become an embarrassing existence.
Source: “Red Collar Jobs Most Sought After in China” Xinhua Sept. 4, 2010

China’s media promotes another career, civil servant positions- or, “red collar jobs”- as being most in demand these days for their comparative stability in terms of job security, income and work-life balance. Unfortunately, for those coveting a hot red collar job in China, they’re quite difficult to come by. Chinese Entrepreneurs Network reports that, in 2009, 104 million people competed for 15,000 of these positions, with an examination ratio of 69:1.

So, what does this all mean to the changing landscape of work and how could it potentially impact Western companies doing business in China? Here’s my take…

• On a global level, white collar jobs are starting to get a bad rap. Wages for the bulk of white collar positions have remained stagnant while those at the very top are perceived to now make far more money than they are actually worth. Job security is no longer what it used to be, and fewer people are willing to work sixty hours a week at one company just to make ends meet. Finally, there are so few open positions available to begin with. Whether in the US, the UK, China or Japan, educated professionals are seeking alternatives either because they have to or because they don’t wish to give their lives away to a business that is not their own for a product that they don’t really believe in. This may be particularly true for the Millennial Generation, who seek more creativity, autonomy and opportunity to strike it rich while simultaneously doing some good in the world.
• Best of luck to hiring managers. While you may still get resumes from the top of the crop in terms of a college degree, you’re far less likely to encounter the truly innovative folks who bring game-changing ideas to the table- and that’s just what you’ll need in this economy. Additionally, because entry- and mid-level wages are no longer enough to pay the bills (particularly in big cities like Shanghai and Tokyo), you’ll likely have a lot of tired employees on your hands who are more dedicated to their second jobs or to building skill sets beyond those utilized in the work place- activities that offer a sense of promise over the long-term, which is more than you are giving them.
• In regard to Western companies doing business in China, having many of the major Chinese media outlets state that the Western white-collar model is “now an embarrassment” and that “red collar jobs” are favored is probably not a good sign for a few reasons. First, statements like these are, in my view, a direct rejection of the Western management style and corporate structure. What it says is, “we no longer look up to the way you do things. We’re going to do things our own way.” That would be China politely pointing to the exit sign. Second, the increasing popularity of a civil servant position indirectly points to a rise in state capitalism and the promotion of Chinese state-owned enterprises, which includes a stronger hand by China’s government in innovation, research and development. Economists and political scientists argue that government and innovation do not mix well together, but those observations often come from a Western lens. China’s different, I think, and it’s very possible that a state-owned Chinese company may very well bring us the next big universe-changing invention. Third, “red-collar fever” points to a rise in China’s nationalism, which has a tendency to intimidate both from afar and on-the-ground. Expat professionals who cannot communicate in Mandarin, who do not adhere to China’s ways and customs, and who do not have a strong circle of Chinese friends and associates may find it increasingly difficult to live and work in China. But, that’s just a guess.

My advice to white-collar workers- especially entry and mid-level employees- no matter what country you’re in or from? Become really, really good at something. Become so good at something that if you’re forced to go out on your own, you’ll still be in demand. Better yet, make alliances and venture out with them. Go beyond raising the bar; build a new one. Don’t be afraid to experiment with new forms and concepts of work. But hey, if you just want a comfortable gig with lifetime job security, I’ve heard that the ends of rainbows have pots of gold…

Have your say: Do you think that the global concept of white-collar work is undergoing a massive shift? If so, what does this mean for traditional corporations? What significance does the rising popularity of red-collar positions have in China? Is being a white-collar worker these days a shameful occupation or are these positions more coveted than ever before? What have you observed in your neck of the woods?

Commentary china, civil servants, employment, Japan, job security, red-collar workers, white-collar work

Imagine this: You’ve just finished a long day of hiking through the karst hills of Guilin, China and are famished. You come upon a small, family-run food stall, complete with four plastic folding tables, two woks on a gas burner stove, and about a half dozen healthy adult chickens running around the premises. A young woman hands you a paper menu printed in Chinese. You order 宫保鸡丁 (Kung Pao Chicken) not because you have a craving for it, but because it’s one of the only menu offerings you can actually read. The young woman smiles and mentally takes your order. Then, she grabs the chicken pecking around your feet, takes it outside by the road, chops off its head, dips the still-writhing body in a bucket of water, plucks its feathers in four minutes flat, dices up the flesh, and cooks it. The killing is swift, and dinner is served.

Now imagine the same initial scenario, except this time, you ignore the blisters on your feet, walking a bit further until you come upon a nice sixty-seat, air-conditioned restaurant. A uniformed waitress hands you a menu printed in English and Chinese and for some strange reason (Out of habit? Because it’s safe? Because you recognize it? Because it’s easy?) you order Kung Pao Chicken.  She scrawls your order on a piece of paper and heads back to the kitchen. Your meal arrives fifteen minutes later, minus the slaughterfest of scenario A.

The first chicken, the “free-bird,” the chicken that pecked my bum at a roadside stand before becoming someone’s dinner, was the last chicken I’d seen in China.

The second chicken is more of a mystery.

For a while now, I have been doing a lot of thinking about how what we put in our bodies affects both our individual lives and society as a whole. In my search for answers about food, I recently picked Jonathan Safran Foer’s incredible book, “Eating Animals,” a memoir that explores the history, philosophy, and folklore of how we justify the way we eat. Safran Foer’s stated intention in writing the book was not to turn his audience into a bunch of die-hard vegans and animal-right activists- nor is mine- but rather an inquiry into what it means to “eat animals” in an age where family farms are nearing extinction. If you read any one book this year, I urge you to consider picking up this one because hey, what’s more important to your life than what you put in your mouth?

But, let’s get back to the second chicken, the “mystery chicken,” the chicken in the fancy restaurant. What if it was like the type of chicken that Safran Foer describes in his book, the US “factory farmed chicken”?” What if this fancy restaurant chicken lived in a cramped, filthy, feces-encrusted room with other dead/dying/diseased chickens for the entirety of its forty-two day life (in the name of “science”, this chicken only gets to live for forty-two days)? That this “fancy” chicken, although drug-stuffed, was likely infected with a nasty virus like E. Coli, and that this chicken had been dipped in a chlorine bath, plumped up with “fecal soup,” and then injected with a salty solution to make it taste good before it traveled thousands of miles to get to the restaurant that you’re sitting in, starving, with chopsticks (or fork and knife) in hand?

Which chicken would you rather have for dinner- chicken A or chicken B?

While “Eating Animals” focuses mainly on US agribusiness, I could not help but wonder how much the American model of “efficient farming” and next-generation chickens has impacted the way that China, the world’s biggest consumer of agricultural products, eats today. According to the Institute for Food and Development Policy, a California-based NGO, meat consumption in China has quadrupled since 1980, at approximately 119 pounds per person each year (USA averages about 185 pounds per capita), with more than 50,000 factory farms in operation. But, who cares, right? We all have to eat and China has 1.3 billion people to feed. Well, beyond the evidence that consuming factory-farmed animal products may not be so healthy for us after all, there are a few other reasons to be concerned, like the negative impact that factory farming has on the environment and the possible link between factory farming, food-borne illnesses and pandemics. In other words, take what we already know about the not-so-pretty side of factory farming in the US and extrapolate it. What will it mean when a nation as large as China consumes as much meat as the US does per capita? Why are we consuming so much meat in the first place? What does it mean when factory farms become the global norm? How is China’s chicken industry changing to keep up with rapid development and shifts in consumption? Additionally, what does it mean when US companies, like Goldman Sachs, invest in Chinese chicken farms?

I don’t have the answers, nor can I claim that Safran-Foer’s description of factory-farmed chickens is entirely accurate- after all, I’m not a chicken expert nor have I ever seen the inside of a chicken factory farm- but I think, at the least, it’s worth talking about.

Just a little food for thought.

Be sure to check out Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, “Eating Animals.” What do you think about this issue? Should we be concerned about the growth of factory farming in the US, China and the rest of the world? Any insight into today’s chickens (or pigs or cows) in China?

Commentary agribusiness, chicken, china, Eating Animals, factory farming, Jonathan Safran Foer

A few months after my now-husband proposed to me I had asked him, point-blank and in the most unromantic way, “how will it work when we get married? I want to return to Asia, but your career is in the US.” He simply smiled and, as typical with die-hard optimists (and maddening to people like me) said, “things have a way of working themselves out.” Due mainly to the economic crisis, our first year as a family had its challenges as I sought meaningful work while he contemplated the next logical move in his own professional future. And then, suddenly- finally- a rather surprising opportunity requiring little contemplation presented itself; my husband was offered a position in his field of search advertising technology with a focus on East Asian engines. Regarding the required relocation to Singapore, we didn’t even have to think about it.

So, it is now official… after two years of attempting to head back to the Eastern hemisphere on a long-term basis with the goal of forging Asia-focused careers, we have made the leap. We arrived in Singapore at 2am this morning with cat in tow and are now searching for a place to call “home” while acclimating ourselves to this new environment. The moving process itself has been cathartic. My hope is back. The smog that lingered over my own career path is lifting as hiring inquiries have begun once again to trickle in; related frustration and inertia that had enveloped my last few months in New York have all but disappeared. Donating ninety percent of our possessions has served to remind us that our “stuff” has no bearing on our worth. Forgotten Mandarin translations are recollected and applied again. I feel more confident that when I do eventually return to my own country, I’ll have something more to offer it. And, my husband- the optimist- is still smiling despite his jet lag.

While New York will always be my true home, my experiences as an expatriate have had a major impact in shaping my life. My time as a child in Trinidad brought a sense of wonder about cultural difference while quickly toughening me up. I became the token white girl; our home was robbed on a regular basis; my parents embarked on their version of “The War of the Roses.” In China as a young adult, I fell head over heels with a nation and its language while finding myself simultaneously overwhelmed by what I’d deemed personal failure. I discovered who I wanted to be in China and yet I left the country broken. It is impossible to predict the effects that Singapore will have on my life, but I come armed with the knowledge of two useful truths: 1) the concept of “a fresh start” is relative and, 2) the concept of “immersion” is also relative. That said, I feel a bit wiser, more grounded this time around and I can’t wait to see what unfolds in the months ahead. After all, third time’s a charm, right?

Commentary expatriate, Singapore

When the going gets tough, I daydream. To be quite frank, I’ve found myself daydreaming a lot over the past few months. So, when I first learned about China’s attempt to acquire ailing  magazine, Newsweek, my imagination shifted into overdrive. I find few things more tantalizing to waste my time musing over then the possibilities which exist at the intersection of US-China relations and the global media sector. Dying media companies are (or should be) an entrepreneur’s cornucopia; throw in the potential for Sino-US partnership, and it’s a bountiful feast for the mind. Or, at least, that’s how it is for me. Perhaps if I were Newsweek CEO Tom Ascheim I’d feel a bit differently right about now.

It should come as no surprise that the bid made by China based-Southern Media Group and Chengdu B-Ray Media was quickly rejected, despite Newsweek’s mounting financial losses and apparent readiness to sell. Continued distrust of the Chinese coupled with growing economic insecurity would make the sale of an American media brand to China more than unpalatable to the public. While no specific reason has been given, the timing and circumstances are just not right at this stage of the game and The Washington Post Company, owners of Newsweek, were likely well aware of that. But, analyzing the finer points is far beyond my scope of knowledge, so I’d like to get back to daydreaming while leaving in-depth commentary to the experts…

One of the wonderful things about losing oneself to the imagination is that it allows little room for laws or politics or impossibilities. So, as I was reading about the failed bid, I couldn’t help but tease myself with a big “WHAT IF” that I’d like to share with you. In a nutshell, China’s thwarted attempt to plant its editorial flag on a US-branded publication highlights dissimilar, but not incompatible, needs among two camps. The first- traditional American media companies- are tripping and tumbling over the breakneck pace of change. They need increased readership, more advertising dollars and, in my opinion, a more globally-minded voice to win back some of the audience that they’ve lost. The second- Chinese media buyers- are desperate to get their foot in America’s door. They want to learn more while bolstering their own reputation under the umbrella of a brand with prestige. However, it is doubtful that either party will get exactly what they want- at least not in the short-term.

So, given the fact that China is going to have a very difficult time acquiring a US media brand like Newsweek outright, why hasn’t the possibility for a Sino-US news media joint-venture been publicly explored (and if it has, why don’t I know about it)? Are we still that far off from being able to conceptualize an influential shared voice that bypasses political bantering and instead focuses on offering dynamic business, economic and cultural news? Consider, for instance, if Newsweek had taken the JV route instead. A few of the potentially positive outcomes may include:
- a transformation in the way we perceive media (we live in a globalized world, after all)
- a potentially broader audience on both sides of the fence
- more diverse, balanced commentary
- greater access to sources, advertising partners
- much needed capital-infusion
- a Chinese presence in US-media (which China is intent on gaining, like it or not)
- reputation as a risk-taker, innovator

There are also major considerations to make and hurdles to overcome in an arrangement like this, for example:
-What does the management structure look like?
-Who would be appointed as editor? Which side gets the final say?
-How do you address the issue of censorship and potentially warring ideologies?
-Which existing companies could handle the complexities inherent in an arrangement like this?
-Would a newly-established JV have a chance, given the challenges existing media brands now face?
-How do you position a new Sino-US media brand or transform an already established brand?

As I stated in the beginning of the post, I’ve been daydreaming, paying little attention to tradition or rules. Any family fortune that may have existed is long gone, the media maven of my ancestry has been dead for hundreds of years, and Michael Bloomberg hasn’t mailed me a check yet. The reality is, in between contemplating the “what if’s” I’m now looking for a job. So, I have resigned myself to accepting the fact that the media company of my dreams may just be that- a dream. But, as an American CEO or Chinese buyer in this world of pretend, possibility reads a bit like promise.

Have your say: Is a balanced Sino-US media company a good idea or an impossibility? Will China acquire a major US media brand in the near future and if so, how will the American public react? Would you read a Sino-US joint-managed newspaper or magazine? What am I missing here?

Commentary joint venture, media companies, Newsweek, Sino-US relations

This morning I made a trip to my local Xinhua Bookstore in Flushing, Queens with the aim of purchasing a few current American suspense novels published in Chinese. While browsing through a section of English/Chinese books geared toward advanced native Chinese-speaking learners of English (because there is no comparable equivalent for native English-speaking learners of Mandarin), I came across a text entitled, “你所不知道的美国”which had been translated on the cover in English, “Update Your Vision of the United States.” I should note that this translation- while a creative approximation- is not entirely accurate. I began thumbing through the text, which was published in 2009 by China Aerospace Press to explain the history and culture of the United States through a series of narratives and critiques on everything from the election of President Obama and “The Cradle of Washington Elites” to the Chinese immigrant experience and the Chinese “Co-Founder of You Tube.” The first chapter, on U.S. national parks, is even entitled, “America’s Best Idea.” The cover of the book claims that the text has been approved by a woman named Andrea Hutt, but I have since concluded that a pseudonym may have been used for this particular work. I ended up buying “Update Your Vision of the United States” anyway, along with a translation of Stephen King’s “Duna Key” (the latter of which was a small splurge driven entirely by equal parts ambition, ego, and stupidity). To be fair, despite the translator’s loose interpretations of language, this Beijing-approved book isn’t half bad in terms of its vocabulary and accuracy. And, according to a search on Baidu, it’s pretty popular over in China. Dangdang.com reviewers give it 5 stars and message board commenters seem equally enthusiastic about their new understanding of America. The following passages are just a few gems from “Update Your Vision of the United States”:

On Mass Media

In recent years, the American media have been plagued with all sorts of problems including sliding profits, scandals about manipulation, plagiarism, falling readership, “dumbing down” and so on. For example, CNN apologized for Jack Cafferty’s insulting remarks against the Chinese…
Media omissions, distortion, inaccuracy and bias in the US is something acknowledged by many outside the USA, and is slowly realized more and more inside the US. However, due to those very same omissions, distortion, inaccuracy and bias in the mainstream media, it is difficult for the average American citizen to obtain an open, objective view of many of the issues that involve the United States.

Does this remind anyone else of American media coverage on Chinese censorship?

On Ivy League Institutions

Ivy certainly looks nice, but you wouldn’t want to stroll through it. Americans gradually realize that much of what they don’t like about American politics- namely, American politicians- can be traced back to Ivy League schools. It can’t just be a coincidence that four or five universities keep spitting out presidential candidates and their spouses with the sort of regularity that Notre Dame used to turn out All American football players… Considering the politicians the schools have let loose on Americans, someone would like to rename it the Poison Ivy League. Americans and their universities also take delight in ridiculing their presidents. A university of not much prestige attracted applicants by making George W. Bush its advertising representative. It put in its website a black and white picture with Bush claiming that “graduating from an Ivy League university doesn’t necessarily mean you’re smart.”

An exportable lesson?

On Cheerleading

Cheerleading is a sport in crisis. There’s furious debate as to whether it is actually a sport at all. There’s a blazing row about just how appropriate it is to have schoolgirls in short skirts perform dirty dancing moves. Some also argue that cheerleading reinforces gender roles. The fact is that for the last five years America has been ripped apart by a maelstrom of cheerleader sex, substance abuse and violence. It seems that Americans are telling teenagers not to have sex, but are teaching them how to do it on the football field and applauding them when they do it. It is just too sexually oriented. Some suggest that drug dealers should have their fingers snipped off. Others claim that cheerleading leads to teen pregnancies, school dropouts and other problems. Cheerleading simultaneously represents “youthful prestige, wholesome attractiveness, peer leadership, and popularity” as well as “mindless enthusiasm, shallow boosterism, objectified sexuality and promiscuous availability.” Cheerleading gives us a snapshot of the American culture.”

If you’re not laughing at least a little bit, perhaps it’s time to update your vision…

I will soon be back to blogging regularly as I prepare for a move back to Asia and look forward to sharing what I learn with you throughout this new experience. Thanks for reading!

Commentary cheerleading in America, learning Mandarin, mass media in America, native Chinese-speakers learning English, Update Your Vision of the United States