Recruitment woes

There isn't a single BLUG meeting that goes by where a member doesn't complain about the difficulties in trying to hire a developer or sys admin. And if we aren't complaining about the few whom we do find, we are even more frustrated by the hundreds of resumes of software engineers that claim to "know" about open source software (OSS).

The situation that my company is in is not unique, nor is it for any of the other OSS entrepeneurs in the BLUG. I have had this discussion with HR directors and general managers from Red Hat, Oracle and Red Flag. Michael Chen, general manager for Red Hat Greater China, put it best when he said "...the understanding and passion about open source is lacking, in general".

If you are looking for a C++ developer, you are in luck, China's got plenty; the bad news is Microsoft and Google have done a pretty darn good job snatching up every decent programmer in the market. When it comes to PHP, Perl, Python, Joomla or any other development language outside of C++, and Java, your best option is to look outside the mainland.

Sound business decisions are not made just on your plan but the resources you have to execute that plan. In China, if OSS is part of the strategy, it would be best to rethink it. This does not just go for developers, but system administrators as well.

Most Chinese IT professionals are not interested in the culture of OSS, they are interested in what experience will help them get the best job in the best company, and earn the best wage. If you have a big name and have the money to spend, then welcome to OSS in China.