[photopress:mba_jnqua_and_sloan.JPG,full,alignright]An excellent and lengthy article by Nishchae Suri compares the current situation of the workforce in India and China. The article is well worth reading as a whole — click on source — but its focus on China and its work force is extremely interesting.
China is poised to contribute 65 million new workers to the global workforce by 2020. This a large, educated, relatively low-cost workforce and many see China as a key element in global workforce strategies.
China’s workforce brings a variety of strengths to the table beyond sheer size. The country’s excellence in producing technical and engineering talent is well known, as is its relatively low-cost manufacturing workforce and 90% literacy rate. With the rapid opening up of the Chinese market, the country’s workforce has shown that it has the ability to adapt quickly to changing business needs. And the Chinese government has invested heavily in infrastructure, logistics, and telecommunication networks to make it easy for foreign companies to access this talent.
There has been a shortage of leadership and management talent, and that issue is being actively addressed through changes in the educational system. More schools have opened, and programs have been expanded to cover management skills. The government has encouraged private investment in education, so that today there are more than 60 joint venture MBA programs in China, many involving top U.S. and European business schools.
The illustration is from MIT Sloan and Tsinghua and the welcome for the International MBA Class of 2008
Source: The Economic Times