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Home > Doing Business with China > Human Resources > Halfpat

Many within China agree that there is a shortage of local talent in the middle management sector. In the past, this was a significant issue as companies had only two options - to hire and relocate expensive expatriate (expat) staff from overseas, or inexpensive, inexperienced local staff.

In the last 5-10 years however, a third option has emerged - the "local hire expatriate", or halfpat. Attracted to China by either a sense of curiosity, or a strong belief in China's potential, the halfpat (including overseas-born ethnic Chinese) is generally a recent graduate or young professional who have moved to China without a predetermined career path.

There are pros and cons for hiring either of these types of Western-trained non-local staff. The strength of an expat is their long-term understanding of an industry and their ability to manage business units back home. Halfpats, on the other hand, are more stable and committed to China in the long-term and they have significant cultural, linguistic and market understanding. For many companies though, the bottom line is a financial one. The staff retention, and overall success rate, of expats is not particularly impressive - particularly in contrast to that of halfpat staff, who do not require expensive relocation packages or language training as they have already taken on those costs themselves.

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