Talent Development in China: Current Practices and Challenges Ahead

The continuing trend of globalization has made the need for talent a worldwide issue. China, as one of the fastest growing economies and population in the world, has made unprecedented growth during the past few decades. Nevertheless, with a rapidly aging population, migrant workers demanding better pay, rising numbers of college graduates entering the job market, and exacerbating shortage of technical managerial talents, China is facing serious new human resource challenges. In this article, we analyzed China’s talent needs and examined its current talent development practice. To gain deep insights, we classified Chinese human resources by industries (primary, secondary, and tertiary), geographical regions (Eastern, Central, and Western), and organizational ownership (private vs. state-owned). By taking this contingency-based approach, we hope to capture the uniqueness and complexity of the contextual variables that influence talent development in China. This research contributes to Chinese management literature and also expands global talent development knowledge base. The findings and recommendations offered in this article will benefit multiple stakeholders, including national policy makers in China, domestic and multiple-national organizational leaders, human resource or talent development practitioners, and researchers