[hk.com]

Firstly I am a westerner so this is not a post about insulting gwailo's.

I am seeing two major trends:
Excluding those in the financial industries, I find that the influence, power, sizes of deals they can cut and decision making of westerners has decreased steadily over the years.

I have a few theories about this, but I would like to hear what other people think.

[Jawni Hingh]

Not sure if you're referring to the same thing, but I read an article from The New York Times yesterday about the diminishing British influence in Hong Kong:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/wo...ia/06hong.html

It was in the context of the Queen's Pier closing down, but was a microcosm of what's been going on since the handover.

British influence in Hong Kong might prove like the gilding, wearing off with time...

Originally Posted by hk.com

Firstly I am a westerner so this is not a post about insulting gwailo's.

I am seeing two major trends:
Excluding those in the financial industries, I find that the influence, power, sizes of deals they can cut and decision making of westerners has decreased steadily over the years.

I have a few theories about this, but I would like to hear what other people think.

[KnowItAll]

Hk.Com, I agree...

Take a look at where the biggest tech deals are done .. not in the finance industry, but at places like ITSD (OGCIO -- dumb name)... EDS etc, don't need expats anymore to cut the deals that are required.

Some (few) MNCs are expat driven ... mostly not.

[hk.com]

more importantly expats don't get to hear lots of the things are going on when they are their inception at the government.

As the market is changing I am also seeing that when expats do cap-ex or purchasing they are becoming like locals. No commitment to buying quality. Just get the cheapest for the highest specs or just buy a brand name blindly. You have to adjust to market forces but if we operate like the locals, what is our differentiation? why hire an expat?

[KnowItAll]

>> why hire an expat?

Very few groups these days begin with the hiring policy -- lets hire an expat for this job.

I think most groups begin with "lets hire the right person for the right amount of money".

In some of those situations .. the core requirements of the right person fit those of expats or "overseas talent". Some of that talent could be experienced and quality talent .. some of that could be because its the right price ("outsource to the cheap body shop in India or China").

[philippe]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

Hk.Com, I agree...

Take a look at where the biggest tech deals are done .. not in the finance industry, but at places like ITSD (OGCIO -- dumb name)... EDS etc, don't need expats anymore to cut the deals that are required.

Some (few) MNCs are expat driven ... mostly not.

Nothing new here, one of the reason I left EDS HK in 1998 is because there was no way up the ladder (for a gweilo). Nothing wrong with that per say but there is no way I was going to stay in a MNC if I could not become a Director at some point.

I believe packages went a bit down for everyone likewise when the economy went bad. Do we get as good salary today as in the golden years of the nineties? Probably not in most cases (well some of us are doing better than other like Mike at InvestHK) but the cost of life is not as high as it was before. Houses are still roughly 50% cheaper.

I don't believe gweilos should have any unfair advantages salary or otherwise, this is a market economy and everything should work out in a way that makes company more productive, more competitive, more creative (R&D)... it does not mean that some company heads won't make dumb decisions here and there but that it is another matter.

[hk.com]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

>> why hire an expat?

Very few groups these days begin with the hiring policy -- lets hire an expat for this job.

I think most groups begin with "lets hire the right person for the right amount of money".

True, but the historical reasons picking a seasoned HK gweilo (not cutting corners, commitment to quality etc) are dissapearing as they are clearly into cutting corners and not worry much about quality.

[KnowItAll]

That cutting the corners thing came in as soon as the first outsourcing contract was written ..

[paulwilky76]

About 3 or 4 years ago, I'm told there were about 35 odd expats all in high senior positions in my company. Now there, is only 10 (including myself), and by the end of next week, it will be down to 9.