Infamous Tea & Honey show
Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of the world’s largest communications services company, wasn’t sugar-coating it when he said that China’s college graduates today lack talent, particularly when it comes to marketing. According to global surveys conducted by management consulting firm McKinsey, 44 percent of executives at Chinese companies believed that the lack of skilled individuals was inhibiting their ability to expand efficiently, while marketing was one of the top four areas that employers found difficult to hire for.
To counteract this talent deficit, Sorrell’s company, WPP, is launching its very own School of Marketing and Communications to better educate youngsters and, therefore, provide them with more opportunities. In theory, this will simultaneously curb the increasing levels of jobless degree-holders and improve the quality of graduates in China.
In cooperation with the Shanghai Art & Design Academy (SADA), which will host a site for the school on their 218-acre campus, WPP’s school will provide a three-year diploma program. The inaugural class began in September, 2011 and constituted just 50 students, whittled down from a pool of 1,358 SADA-enrolled hopefuls.
Competition is stiff, as those participating in the diploma program will be partially taught by senior staff from WPP and receive opportunities to intern at one of the conglomerate’s numerous subsidiaries.
