Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park - regarded as the "Silicon Valley" of China - is carrying out the first human resource survey of its IT industry, to get a clear picture of the area's employees,according to today's China Daily.
 
   Nearly 240,000 staff members, from 3,500 IT companies, are expected to take part in the survey, which covers a wide range of their work and social lives, from education backgrounds to living conditions.

   "Zhongguancun is the forerunner in Chinese IT industry, and it is nationally the most intensive area of intellectual resources and human resources," said Liu Zhishuo, the survey's general planner.

   Qualified personnel are the most valuable resource for IT companies, and it is the first time Zhongguancun will conduct a comprehensive survey on its human resources since it was founded in 1988.

   Managers and staff members expressed lack of communication as a problem in "the valley" but hope the survey will provide an opportunity to air their views and open up channels between companies, workers and the government.

   Shortage of funds, long hours, high rent for office buildings and few channels to benefit from governmental policies are the major headaches for many managers.

   However, for the majority of IT staff members in Zhongguancun, concerns concentrated on job cuts, keen competition, training opportunities and buying houses and cars.

   Those employees who travel from outside of the capital to work in the park, and have not become registered as permanent residents of Beijing, face more difficulties with their children's education, going abroad, buying insurance and even buying a mobile telephone, because they need the residence registration.

   These staff members called for the municipal government to reduce the negative impacts for those who lack the residence registration.

   According to the survey conductors, some human resource managers said their companies lacked "blue-collar" software workers, willing to engross themselves in basic writing and operating programmes.

   "We need 'digital workers' - the programmers - and they should become the main body of an IT company," said Guo Yuanlin, vice-president of the Tsinghua Unisplendour Limited Corporation.