TCL Corporation Initiates Global Recruitment Effort

TCL Corporation Initiates Global Recruitment Effort

June 04th,2004

(June 2, 2004 - Guangzhou) . The TCL Corporation has recently turned its focus to global recruitment. Prior to this, TCL devoted extensive efforts to establish itself as a global leader in the TV industry together with French Thomson and to strengthen its position in the telecom industry through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with French Alcatel, establishing a joint venture engaged in the manufacturing and sales of mobile handsets and related product services. These business successes are a symbol of the accomplishments TCL has made in creating a global presence.

During TCL June 2 press conference in Guangzhou, Tomson Li, chairman and president of TCL Corporation, made public TCL global recruitment policy. The policy includes TCL intention of hiring 2200 senior managers and R&D professionals with international experience by the end of the year, putting the company "Dragon and Tiger" plan into full effect. According to industry experts, this marks the first time a Chinese enterprise has launched such an ambitious and globally-focused recruitment plan, and will serve as evidence that human resources is critical to competing globally.

"TCL has set a goal of becoming an internationally competitive world-class enterprise. As a multinational enterprise, we require a management team and staff who think globally, and have experience managing in a global context. Therefore, we will source talents globally," said Tomson Li at the press conference.

"TCL corporate culture is founded on individuals from diverse backgrounds. As the company faces the international marketplace, this culture can help integrate into TCL people from a variety of cultures and regions. To become an international company in the true sense of the word, we need to localize our human resources strategy.

Currently, foreign staff takes up about 18% of TCL total workforce. In the following three to five years, TCL will speed up its localization strategy to further raise the ratio of foreign staff among its employees globally."

As stated in its corporate tenet, TCL sets high standards for its staff. Specifically, TCL employees must command outstanding professional and leadership skills. In addition, they must be self-motivated, eager to learn, resilient, and possess superb communication skills and team spirit. It is a challenge for TCL to achieve these ambitious targets within such a short time frame, and to screen and recruit such a large number of highly-qualified staff while maintaining objectivity and fairness.

To ensure the success of the plan, TCL has encouraged its staff to recommend appropriate candidates while mapping out a detailed recruitment action plan. The first phase of recruitment will last about four months, targeting candidates with extensive work experience at well-known enterprises, both in China and abroad.

Positions are available in electronics, information, telecommunications, machinery, marketing, accounting and human resources, just to name a few. Senior positions available include general manager of an R&D center of a division and general manager of overseas regional sales. These senior positions are available in multimedia, telecommunications and the digital products, parts and accessories and household electronics and appliances divisions.

Middle- to senior-level positions account for approximately 40% of positions available. R&D positions account for almost 70% and positions related to the TCL-Thomson Project and mobile telecommunications make up 60%.

2003 marks a milestone in the history of the TCL Corporation. Last year, TCL posted turnover of RMB 28.25 billion yuan, an increase of 28% from 2002, and a net profit of RMB 570 million yuan, up 34% from the previous year. In addition, TCL was awarded the title of "Most Respected Enterprise in China" and was ranked No.

1 on the list of "Top 50 Large Enterprises in Guangdong". In the most recent rankings of China Top 100 IT Enterprises in 2004, TCL Corporation ranked third. Moreover, TCL has maintained strong business performance during the first quarter of this year, recording a turnover of RMB 7.23 billion yuan and a net profit of RMB 248 million yuan, up 51% over the same period a year earlier.

Last year, the TCL Corporation launched its "Dragon and Tiger" plan, aimed at establishing a world-class enterprise capable of competing globally. TCL officially signed a partnership agreement with French Thomson, through which TCL became the world?s largest manufacturer of color TV sets, and bolstered its R&D, manufacturing and sales capabilities. In April 2004, TCL and French Alcatel signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a joint venture engaged in the research and development, sales and distribution of mobile handsets and related product services.

TCL global infrastructure is extensive and impressive. Consistent with its expansion, TCL also noted its lack of experience in operating globally and its desire to find high-caliber professionals. According to a recent report released by McKinsey & Company, even the best companies in China lack experience in important fields such as distribution, service and marketing. These deficiencies can be traced back to human resources.

Mr. Yu Yueming, director of human resources of TCL Corporation, stressed these points during the TCL press conference. Human resources is central to the speed at which TCL can "internationalize". It is hard to achieve "internationalization" without qualified people with experience in the global marketplace. Therefore, TCL will host recruitment fairs in New York, Silicon Valley, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Bay and the Yangtse River Delta region. TCL expects to hire 2200 people during the first phase of recruitment.

During the press conference, Tomson Li, chairman and president of TCL Corporation, said that with the acceleration of economic globalization and regional integration, competition among enterprises will focus more and more on corporate core competency. Human resources is a key factor in continued development.

He also added that with TCL global expansion, great opportunities are available for qualified individuals from China and abroad to expand their capabilities and display their innovative prowess. TCL will continue to fulfill its mission and obligation of building a strong enterprise that contributes to the prosperity of China and the world.

The company will achieve this by hiring employees from around the world who have lofty ideals and TCL will achieve its goal of building a world-class enterprise.