Saturday, February 26, 2011

In China you can 'rent' a white guy for business meetings

Photo: BBC

It sounds ridiculous and yet it also makes perfect sense when you acknowledge the business mindset in China.

These hired white guys are used for photocalls and to be present at meetings and corporate events to give the impression that the company is important and has connections to the West. Says one hired employee:

For the next few days, we sat in the office swatting flies and reading magazines, purportedly high-level employees of a U.S. company that, I later discovered, didn’t really exist. We were so important, in fact, that two of the guys were hired to stay for eight months (to be fair, they actually then received quality-control training).

“Lots happening,” Ken told me. “We need people for a week every month. It’ll be better next time, too. We’ll have new offices.” He paused before adding: “Bring a computer. You can watch movies all day.”

I look forward to the day British companies need to hire fake Chinese guys.

Source: Boing Boing

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