| In a survey conducted recently, 600 chief executives | | | | only a few hundred pilots a year, Asian airlines have |
| of multinational companies with businesses across | | | | taken to plundering them, often from each other. |
| Asia said a lack of qualified staff ranked as their | | | | Philippine Airlines, for instance, had to give away 75 |
| biggest worry in China and South-East Asia. It was | | | | pilots to overseas airlines during the past three years. |
| their second-biggest concern in Japan after cultural | | | | China has been trying to persuade pilots from Brazil, |
| differences and the fourth-biggest in India after | | | | among other places. |
| problems with infrastructure, bureaucracy and wage | | | | Hiring Asians who have been educated abroad and |
| inflation. Across almost every industry and sector the | | | | bringing them back does not always succeed. They |
| situation is not different either. | | | | often anticipate to be paid a lot. Some insist on |
| Old Asia-hands may find it easy to realize why there is | | | | expatriate packages with paid flights back to America |
| such worry. The region's swift economic growth has | | | | or Europe. They may also be unaware about local |
| fished out the pool of existing talent, they would say. | | | | developments. But, the biggest concern is that their |
| But, the education has been a letdown as well. Recent | | | | colleagues regularly resent them. This is especially so in |
| progress in many parts of Asia has been so | | | | China, where one of the respectful names for returning |
| enormous that it has swiftly changed the type of skills | | | | people is hai gui or sea turtles. A similar attitude |
| required by businesses. Schools and universities have | | | | sometimes appears in India too. Companies realize that |
| been found wanting in keeping pace. | | | | the turtles tend to suit best in the finance industry or in |
| This is particularly true for professional staff. Airlines | | | | privately owned businesses. |
| are one example. With rising deregulation, many new | | | | With such a gulf between supply and demand in Asia's |
| carriers are getting established and airlines are offering | | | | labor markets, companies will have to improve at hiring |
| more services to live up to demand. But, there is an | | | | good staff and sustaining them. But, as some |
| awful scarcity of pilots. According to a training | | | | companies will always be better at this than others, the |
| organization, the commercial-pilot training arm of | | | | job-hopping and plundering are forecasted to continue |
| Boeing, India has less than 3,000 pilots today but will | | | | for many years, until education and training gets |
| require more than 12,000 by 2025. China will need to | | | | elevated enough. The aftereffects of that are stark. It |
| unearth an average of 2,200 new pilots a year just to | | | | will restrict the growth. It has to actually. Which implies |
| keep themselves afloat with the progress in air travel, | | | | that without talented recruiting policies, some firms may |
| which implies it will require more than 40,000 pilots by | | | | result in backtracking their bold Asian growth-plans. |
| 2025. Meanwhile, with big international airlines training | | | | |