International architect recruiter Bespoke Career Management is opening an office in Hong Kong that aims to tap into the global mobility of Mandarin speakers, according to its managing director.

Lindsay Urquhart told Recruiter that the new office, which opens on 8 August, was “a way to channel people on a much more global scale, by moving people between continents rather than recruiting people on a local level.

“This is about identifying the best designers [architects] in the world and moving them there [into the Chinese market].”

There are a lot of people who live in the West that speak Mandarin, who want to work in China and Hong Kong, where there was “a really high demand” for Mandarin speakers, explained Urquhart.

“The Chinese with the money and the decision-makers speak Mandarin and they want people who understand the culture and have experience of working in the West. London and New York are seen as being in the forefront of architectural design,” Urquhart added.
She said that although the Hong Kong office will “run in English”, both clients and candidates will be able to converse with consultants who are fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

There were similar opportunities for recruiters in other sectors, such as IT, to adopt the same model, she added.

Urquhart said the new Hong Kong office was “a stepping-stone into China”, where the market was “going crazy”, and would employ five to six staff.

She said she hoped the new office would break even within six months. Hong Kong will be Bespoke’s fourth office. It already has offices in Sydney, London and Melbourne.