“Bamboo ceiling” causes the Chinese “Exodus”

 The Chinese techies in Silicon Valley are turning back towards their homeland for better jobs. A major reason for this mass departure is speculated to be “bamboo ceiling”. The term “bamboo ceiling” refers to the processes and hurdles that serve to exclude Asians and Asian-Americans from leadership positions inside organisations. Apart from this reason, ethnicity and better opportunities were others, Bloomberg reported.

The key force in the global expansion of Chinese companies is the US trained Chinese techies. They are also playing a big role in the China’s ambition to become a global superpower to dominate artificial intelligence and machine learning. Many college graduates, who once yearned for overseas job, are now attracted towards career opportunities at homeland where there is plentiful of investments and the government also offer financial support for cutting-edge research.

“At Google, at LinkedIn, at Uber, at Airbnb, they all have Chinese engineers who are trying to figure out ‘should I stay or should I go back’” Hans Tung, a managing partner at venture capital firm GGV Capital, told Bloomberg.

16 percent of the Chinese have returned back to the country, which is a 10 percent rise compared to the 2015 poll according to a survey by the Center for China & Globalization and employment website Zhaopin.com,  according to the report.

At Google , Asians make up 39 percent of the tech workforce but only 27 percent of leadership positions. At Apple, Asian workers hold 31 percent of tech jobs, but just 23 percent of leadership positions. At Facebook, Asians make up 49 percent of the tech workforce, but occupy only 21 percent of “senior leadership” positions. These data from major Silicon Valley tech firms, confirms the report about the ‘Exodus’ due to the ‘bamboo ceiling’.