Hays, the UK-based world leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and looks forward to furthering its contribution to the “golden era” of UK-China economic relations.
The business began its life in 1968, based in a small office in London with just a handful of employees. The company is now a FTSE 250 business, operating out of 250 offices, across 33 countries and with over 10,000 employees.
Alistair Cox, Hays CEO, commented, “This is such a proud moment for our business and it provides us the opportunity to reflect on our history and how much the business has changed in that time. From our beginnings as a small UK-based business, to the world’s largest specialist recruiter today, it’s quite an extraordinary journey.”
Hays in China
Hays first established its presence in Shanghai in 2007, expanding to Beijing, Guangzhou, Suzhou and Shenzhen to support China’s economic transformation by helping companies operating in the country recruit the high-quality talent that they need.
Hays provides specialist recruitment services in 14 industries in China, many of which are critical to the ongoing upgrading of the Chinese economy, including Banking & Financial Services, Information Technology, Digital Technology, Manufacturing & Operations, Life Sciences, Legal and Marketing & Digital.
“China is in the middle of a large-scale transformation of its economy and requires a continuous pool of high-quality talent with a range of experiences. As a top global recruitment company headquartered in the UK and with an extensive local presence, we are ideally placed to help companies in China to identify and recruit that talent,” says Simon Lance, Managing Director of Hays Greater China.
With 10,000 staff operating from 250 offices in 33 countries, Hays exemplifies the type of global British business that has established a reputation for excellence in a specialised industry. This week the British Prime Minister Teresa May is visiting China with the largest ever UK trade delegation to boost this “golden era” of economic relations between the UK and China.
In recent years the UK has positioned itself as one of China’s closest partners in the West. Hays is proud to be able to back this effort as a British company operating and expanding in China and contributing to social development and economic growth by bringing the right talent to the right business. For example, last year we opened our newest China office in Shenzhen so that we can better service the talent demands of the growing number of global high-tech Chinese enterprises.
"As a long-standing member of British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, Hays has been actively involved in many business and CSR activities in partnership with British Cham, to support British companies operating in China and Chinese companies that are going aboard," added Simon.
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About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2017 the Group employed 10,000 staff operating from 250 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2017:
– the Group reported net fees of £954.6 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £211.5 million;
– the Group placed around 70,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 240,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 24% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific, 49% in Continental Europe & RoW (CERoW) and 27% in the United Kingdom & Ireland;
– the temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.