Coronavirus: Implications and Recommendations for International Recruiters
It has been a turbulent few weeks as the international recruitment community digests news of the coronavirus and its impacts on spring travel and student mobility. The fluid situation has made formulating an official response challenging for many universities. Travel restrictions have limited standardized testing for students and curtailed recruitment travel to China. Meanwhile, many Chinese agents may not open their offices to students for at least another two weeks, requiring a hasty migration to online counselling or missing a crucial period in the enrollment cycle.
In light of the situation, we invite you to join our webinar Coronavirus: Implications and Recommendations for International Recruiters, which will take place on February 13th at 1PM Eastern Time, presented by AIRC and Strategic Partner, Sunrise International.
Please fill out this form to register for the webinar
Since the situation has changed so much since we last wrote to you last week, we also wanted to take this opportunity to provide a round-up of updates on the coronavirus and some recommendations and resources for the upcoming recruitment season:
As of February 4 at 3:00PM, there were 24,324 confirmed infections and 490 deaths. 23 countries and regions have reported infections, but most infections and all but 2 deaths have been in Mainland China. The Chinese government has responded with strong and sweeping measures, sealing off several cities in Hubei, the center of the outbreak. A 1,000 bed hospital was built in Wuhan in just 10 days, with more to follow. Many businesses are on an extended holiday, and agent offices in some places are not permitted to host students until the end of February. For schools and universities, the start of the spring semester has been delayed until February 17, although some expect further delays.
Delta, American, United, and Air Canada have suspended service to China, some until the end of February others until the end of April. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese carriers are still servicing US-China routes at more limited capacity.
Many countries are limiting entry for those who have recently travelled to China. The US, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, and Israel are not admitting foreigners who have been to China within 2 weeks of travel. Japan, South Korea, and the Taiwan region have targeted restrictions on those coming from outbreak areas, while more heavy-handed measures like border closures or bans on all Chinese travellers were adopted in Mongolia, Singapore, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan. The China-Hong Kong “border” remains open at limited capacity. Some countries and South and Southeast Asia remain open, with the Prime Minister of Cambodia even offering to take a trip to Wuhan soon.
Many overseas universities are barring travel to China for the next 1-3 months and asking students who have recently been to China to self-isolate since infected people can spread the disease up to 2 weeks before feeling symptoms. Some universities have gone as far as to bar travel to Southeast Asia as well. Agencies in Shanghai are not permitted to conduct offline activities until the end of February, although these rules may vary across China.
The coronavirus will cause economic damage in the short term. The Shanghai stock exchange dropped 8 percent on Monday, while even conservative estimates project that China’s GDP growth will decrease from 6.1% last year to 5.6%. The economic impact is not limited to China, which is deeply interconnected in the global economy. The virus adds to previous economic woes in Thailand and Hong Kong, and parts of the Australian, Japanese, and South Korean economies are dependent on Chinese demand and tourism.
Suggestions for Recruiters:
Know whether your China spring recruitment events that you signed up for are still taking place. We put together this list of events for your reference and are updating as we hear news.
Be aware of your university’s travel limitations, and advocate for a monthly review. The situation could improve considerably by April or May as warmer weather and the worldwide effort to contain the virus take effect.
If spring China travel is untenable for you, consider hosting a virtual visit or webinar through Chinese social media and live streaming platforms. Sunrise is taking its March events completely online, with a series of webcasts broadcasted in schools around the country instead of in-person visits. Please fill out this short form if you’d like to hear more.
Chinese students cannot visit your campus without doing a two week stopover in a third country, and that means that you should make sure that your virtual/VR tour works in China (many do not). Free of charge, Sunrise can test accessibility of your VR tour from inside China and will upload your 360 virtual tour images to Campus360, so they are accessible behind the firewall.
Running advertising campaigns on Chinese search engines or social media platforms like Wechat or Weibo can be useful in driving applications and inquiries. If you have any questions about digital outreach or would like help hosting an exclusive livestream or virtual event, consider reaching out to Sunrise (contact@sieconnection.com) or your Chinese partners.
Have a second look at our other suggestions from the last newsletter that we sent to you on January 31, where we talked about sending out a message of solidarity to your Chinese partners, scheduling admitted student receptions, and considering test flexibility.
We’ll close by saying that you should always strongly consider the advice of medical professionals and government travel notices, and we hope that this overview from the perspective of a recruitment travel organizer is helpful. Please let us know if you have any questions or we can assist you in navigating this time of uncertainty.