A communist history, in which consumers had limited choice to exercise in deciding which products they wanted to buy, has left China short of marketing specialists.

However, China is just one Asian country suffering a severe lack of such talent, according to the chief executive officer for Europe and Asia Pacific of global creative/marketing specialist Aquent.

"China, Japan, Singapore — they're all screaming for talent," Greg Savage, told Recruiter last week during a visit to London.

Half of Aquent's placements in China are filled from outside the country, Savage said. Many new recruits for jobs in China are what he referred to as "regional expatriates", meaning that they might come from other Asian countries where Mandarin Chinese is spoken.

Aquent's line-up of international offices outside North America, the company's stronghold, includes three offices in China and five in Japan.

In the UK, Aquent added media recruiters Pricejamieson and Recruit Media to its portfolio earlier this year and is leaving its options open in terms of future acquisitions here — but acquisitions will only be made for "strategic reasons", he emphasised, "not for bolting on revenue".

Nevertheless, "the UK is very good for us", Savage said. "The creative and marketing sectors are very buoyant." And Pricejamieson is seizing new opportunities beyond the UK: the Aquent subsidiary announced last week that it is expanding its recruitment services of market research and data analysis to Asia Pacific.

Global mobility, Savage said during an exclusive interview with Recruiter, is an increasing theme amongst Aquent's clients. The talent is willing to move, and "there is such a shortage that employers are paying for them to move", he said.

Current and future hot spots for Aquent will include Germany, India, South Africa, and the Middle East, he predicted.