China still faces a severe manager shortage

Global executive search firms focused on recruiting for top management positions in China in the third quarter, as the world's second-largest economy continued to face a severe manager shortage, according to a report from an industry group.

"Clearly, there is high demand for talent in Asia. This reflects good economic indicators but possibly also the inability of the educational system to produce the right kind of people," said Patrick Rooney, Asia Pacific managing director for the Association of Executive Search Consultants, which released the report Wednesday.

The results showed no impacts of an economic slowdown in China, Rooney said, adding: "Asia-Pacific results generally held up well".

China's managerial shortage stems from a lack of Mandarin- and English-speaking professionals who are familiar with local culture and can move quickly, the AESC said.

An AESC survey last month showed top executives in the Asia-Pacific region got the world's highest base salaries, partly due to employers trying to retain talent amid the talent shortage.

The report also showed the Asia-Pacific region had the smallest decline among surveyed regions in the average number of searches it conducted in the quarter. Searches fell 5.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with decreases of 13.3 percent in North America, 7.5 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 24.6 percent in Central/South America.

Between the third and second quarters, search volume fell 3.5 percent in Asia Pacific, 6.4 percent in North America, 6.5 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 15 percent in Central/South America.

Rooney saw the results indicating "a global trend toward large firms being more selective in their use of executive search and using search processes for senior or hard-to-fill roles.

"This trend is also seen in Asia but is partly offset by continuing economic growth in the region," he said.

In terms of market share, year-over-year results for Asia Pacific rose just 1 percent. But Rooney said the results chart the "slow but steady rise of the relative strength of the Asia-Pacific region compared to other parts of the globe".

"We expect the need for searches will continue to rise as Asia becomes home to an increasing number of global firms, and the global talent shortage begins to bite," he said.