ABSTRACT
As China has become a major player on the global stage (Davidson, 1987; Picht, 2011), more and more people in China have careers that span geographical and cultural boundaries. Similarly, with increased foreign investment into China, more and more foreigners are working in China. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China (2011), the total number of expatriates legally working in China had reached 231,700 by the end of 2010. Although researchers have considered the influence of globalization on China in terms of human resource management (e.g., Ahlstrom, Foley, Young, & Chan, 2005), the impact of globalization on the global careers of indigenous Chinese and expatriates in China has not been fully examined. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to review the evolution of global careers in China within the context of various forces of globalization. We first define global career, noting that talent shortage is a persistent and pervasive phenomenon in China, and that government interventions are attempting to prevent the associated brain-drain issue. Second, we discuss contemporary career concepts and how they are relevant to the Chinese context. Third, to understand better how contextual factors influence global careers in China, we describe some of the political, economic, technological, sociocultural, and legal/labor changes that characterize contemporary China. Fourth, we introduce two new concepts, globalization shock and globalization adjustment, and explore how these challenges affect people in the development of their global careers. Fifth, we provide two stories to illustrate how such challenges have or have not been overcome. Finally, we adopt a critical lens to evaluate the influences of globalization on global careers in China at individual, organizational, and societal levels.
