Tai Ping Carpets is looking to hire millennials that have this one core ability
The South China Morning Post posted five key questions to all interviewees in the Moving Forward series, seeking their insight on the city’s future. Here are Tai Ping Carpets International Chief Executive James Kaplan’s view.
Do you think Hong Kong is still an ideal place to do business?
Yes. Hong Kong is where our company is founded. Geographically, it is very close to our manufacturing centres in mainland China. It is very easy for our staff and designers to travel from Hong Kong to our factories. Hong Kong itself is also a very good sales centre: it has many hotels, restaurants, and it is only one hour from Macau where almost all the casinos and hotels use our carpets. We could also recruit good talent in Hong Kong, people who are hardworking and have the “can do” spirit.
How is your company coping with the economic downturn in Hong Kong and the mainland?
I do not think the Chinese economy is really so bad. It is true that it has slowed down to about 7 per cent growth now from 10 per cent some years ago. But the US and Europe have annual economic growth of less than 2 per cent. The slowdown in the mainland is not an excuse to slow down our expansion plans in the region.
It is true that some hotels in the mainland and Hong Kong have cut back their expansion plans and this has had some impact on our hospitality business. However, the casinos in Macau continue to order carpets for their expansion as they feel long-term business opportunities remain strong. We have also seen residential demand rising due to the growing wealth of people in the mainland. By doing more marketing in the mainland, I believe we can capture this growing business.
It is important for young people to learn the importance of listening to other people’s opinions
What do you think the government should do to help your business to do better?
The Hong Kong government should continue to promote the city as a culture and design centre. We want to see more designers feeling comfortable about coming to live in Hong Kong to set up their workshops. We would need to have more arts shows and exhibitions here. For the carpet making industry, we need a lot of designers who have creative ideas to design colours and patterns.
What is your advice to young people to achieve a successful career?
It is important for young people to learn the importance of listening to other people’s opinions. Only if you are willing to listen to what your customers want, then can you achieve a good career. It is important for designers to go out and talk to customers to see the latest market trends. It is important for them to talk to the leaders in the company to see what the senior executives want. Also, it is important for young people to keep their standards high. Many CEOs would like to hire smart, hard working people with a mission to join their companies, and we are no exception. I want to hire a receptionist who is aiming to be CEO one day. Only if people aim for a career would they be able to move forward and find out how to improve themselves.
In our company, we have hired young designers who have studied fashion, textiles or fine arts and provide them opportunities to develop a career in the carpet industry. We have global operations, so some of our young people could also have the chance to work in our operations in New York and Europe. This would add to their aspirations.
If you had one sentence to say how Hong Kong could move forward, what would it be?
Hong Kong needs to be a vibrant city while maintaining its stability. Only if the city is stable can it attract designers to come and customers to buy.
