China is bombarding tech talent with job offers. The West is freaking out.
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Executives at Zeiss SMT, which makes indispensable components to build the world’s most powerful semiconductors, got some troubling news last fall. Headhunters from Huawei Technologies, the Chinese tech firm, were trying to poach its employees.
Staff with access to sensitive Zeiss know-how received LinkedIn messages, emails and calls from Huawei representatives, offering them up to three times their salaries to join the Chinese company, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The push triggered an investigation by German intelligence officials, who feared it could provide a back door for Huawei to access some of the world’s most sophisticated intellectual property. The investigation remains open, people familiar with the matter say.
It was the latest sign that talent-poaching has become a crucial front in the battle between China and the West for tech supremacy. As Western governments make it harder for China to access sensitive technologies—a trend expected to continue under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump—many Chinese companies are trying to get ahead by luring away top engineers in areas such as advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Chinese firms are focusing on several tech hubs, including Taiwan, parts of Europe and Silicon Valley.
Some obscure their Chinese origins by forming local ventures that hire the employees to avoid drawing attention from local officials, authorities say. The push is forcing officials in the U.S. and Europe, many of whom view recruiting as an ordinary business activity that shouldn’t be restricted, to confront whether they need to do more to police the practice, and if so, how.
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