Returnees are an important indicator of the internationalization level of talents. Since 2016, on the basis of analyzing the personal history of 20619 new returnees, and conducting effective questionnaire surveys and symposium visits to 1438 of them, it can be found that profound changes have begun to occur in the dimensions of structure, level and demand, and Shanghai has taken the lead in entering the era of "mass returnees".
The original policy of studying abroad talents is slightly outdated or lagging behind, and it is necessary to change the work ideas in a timely manner in terms of market-oriented allocation, funding orientation, public employment services, flow guidance, tracking and analysis research, etc.
<h2>It is no longer a general high-level talent </h2>
Among the new returnees since 2016, 70% are undergraduates, 25% are masters, 3% are MBAs, and only 1% are doctors. Newly returned returnees are no longer general high-level talents, and the trend of popularization, diversification and scale is obvious. At the same time, both the increase in scientific research funding targets and the increase in the amount of scientific research funding are far lower than the expansion rate of the scale of returnees. According to the survey, 62 percent of new returnees "have not applied for any type of project funding" and 33 percent said they "don't know or care." It can be seen that the design of funding policies for returnees urgently needs to be transformed.
In fact, with the advent of the era of "mass returnees", except for a very small number of top-level talents, the vast majority of overseas talents should be allocated through market channels and follow the law of market pricing. In recent years, many headhunting agencies have set up international business departments to actively expand overseas talent business, but their role has not yet been fully utilized.
According to the survey, 54.21% of the new returnees "found the current unit after searching on the Internet", and another 18.62% were "introduced by relatives and friends in China" and 4.48% were "introduced by teachers and classmates in China". In other words, online search and acquaintance introduction are the main ways, and only 7.72% of people find jobs in Shanghai "through the introduction of headhunting companies". This reflects multiple problems such as information asymmetry and imbalance between supply and demand in the talent job market.
Further research shows that with the democratization of study abroad, the employment patterns of the returnee group have undergone a major transformation. First, 0.34% of the new returnees "did not have stable jobs and did odd jobs", and 4.76% of the new returnees "did not have jobs"; second, more than 80% of the new returnees were employed outside the system, and the preferences within the system were fundamentally reversed; third, the proportion of private enterprises employed exceeded that of foreign enterprises, becoming the primary employment department for new returnees. Along with this, 67 percent of new returnees have never enjoyed employment services provided by the government, and 24 percent said they "don't know or care."
<h2>Based on contributions rather than identity orientation </h2>
In general, the overall situation of Returnees in Shanghai shows the following characteristics: First, the total number of returnees has reached the level of 200,000; second, the proportion of Returned Talents in Shanghai has decreased, which is currently less than 10%; Third, the advantages of returnees compared with local talents are no longer obvious overall.
Based on the investigation analysis and trend analysis, three policy suggestions are proposed:
First, dynamically track the changes in the situation of the returnee group and actively provide flow guidance. It is recommended that all returnees be included in the sequence of social survey work in Shanghai, and that spot checks of surface data be carried out regularly and reflected in the census work. On the basis of the follow-up survey and big data analysis of the returnees group, it provides a basis for the decision-making adjustment and optimization of the talent policy department. At the same time, a third-party organization can be entrusted to release an annual report on returnees to provide professional guidance for young students to study abroad and return home.
Second, strengthen the training and support of intermediaries in the international talent market, and further consolidate and improve the global talent resource allocation platform. Among them, it mainly includes two grasps: one is to strengthen the guidance of international talent business for headhunting institutions in Shanghai, give play to the policy coordination and information sharing of functional departments, and consolidate the foundation of market-oriented allocation; the second is to provide support for local headhunting to connect overseas study abroad associations, strengthen the information collection and liaison work of overseas student associations, and promote effective docking by holding exchange activities to create favorable conditions for market-oriented allocation.
Third, appropriately integrate the "Shanghai Talent Development Fund" and the "Pujiang Talent Plan" to build a performance-oriented and universal funding system for young talents. Several of the backgrounds and trends are: the time is ripe to put returned talents and local talents on the same funding platform and promote mutual integration and development; the macro policy conditions based on contribution-oriented rather than identity-oriented, post-awarding rather than pre-support are already in place; the practical problems faced by young talents are the key to Shanghai's victory in the future; and the urgency of opening up the policy of returning talents to cover local young talents is increasing day by day.
To this end, it is recommended to expand or integrate the "Shanghai Talent Development Fund" project and the "Pujiang Plan" and other special projects for returnees, to create a development fund for the future, the construction of the "five centers", and for all young talents in Shanghai; to take the tax policy as the main means of adjustment, through tax reduction and reduction, to reduce costs and risks for the innovation and entrepreneurship activities of all kinds of talents; with the actual employer as the main funder, through the phased funding and integration of the project setting, to reduce the starting threshold and integration risk for all kinds of talents. Employers can enjoy preferential tax policies. (Author: Gao Ziping, Director of the Personnel Department of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Researcher Source: Jiefang Daily)