Today, 1.2 million Hongkongers use the company's Hotmail and another 1 million use its MSN services. Many times that number of mainlanders are regular users.

Leslie Chu, the head of MSN Hong Kong, said the company now felt it was vital to have a physical presence on the mainland to provide better customer service and a springboard for expansion.

The mainland has 80 million internet users, compared with 4 million in Hong Kong, and is the world's second-biggest market after the United States, which has about 100 million users. It is expected to become the world's largest internet market in the next five years.

Mr Chu said the potential for development was huge and forecast continued expansion for the company.

By comparison, sina.com.cn has seen its workforce grow to more than 4,000 people since it was launched in the late 1990s. Another internet company, Yahoo China, was set up around the same time and now has a workforce of more than 300.

'We are not comparing ourselves with other companies in terms of the size of our workforces, but we will keep investing in the China market, and from time to time new jobs will be created,' said Mr Chu.

'We could not serve our mainland users in the past, but now we can do more with a new company, such as developing advertising and e-commerce, expanding user coverage, and providing premium services and other value-added services such as video conferencing and other high-quality communication.'

Positions to be filled include those at the consultant, senior managerial and director levels, and in the areas of sales and marketing, product development, product management and engineering.

Although the positions are open to applicants from around the world, it is expected that most will come from Hong Kong, as well as Taiwan, where more people can speak Putonghua.

Mr Chu said the company would offer local packages.

'Even if a Hong Kong employee of MSN wants to work at the new company, he will need to terminate his employment with MSN Hong Kong and join the new company under new terms,' he said.

Salary levels would be based on market conditions and, in general, would be lower than those in Hong Kong unless the candidate had unique skills or expertise that the company was not able to find elsewhere.

A sales and marketing professional with five to 10 years' experience, for example, would receive about 25,000 yuan a month from a medium-scale, foreign-invested firm.

This was considered quite a high salary on the mainland.

However, Mr Chu said that salaries in larger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai were rising rapidly and approaching the levels on offer in Hong Kong.

Potential candidates from Hong Kong should keep in mind that tax rates are higher, at 20 to 30 per cent, and they will have to invest in their own pension and medical funds. They should also consider the fact that they may have to live apart from their families for up to nine months of the year.

The ideal candidates, therefore, are people who have set their sights on developing a career on the mainland, and are ready to reap the benefits over the long term.

'Some of MSN's employees in Hong Kong and Taiwan who have been in their positions for years would find it challenging and are interested in gaining new experience. What they are concerned about is not only money, but the future,' Mr Chu said.

'Potential recruits should hold open discussions with the company in order to arrive at a 'fair package'. It would be meaningless if someone was forced to take up a job in the mainland due to a certain market situation, as we want our staff to be happy employees.'

Mr Chu said the mainland market did not lack natural leaders with business vision, and there was an abundant supply of people capable of working as managers or assistant managers.

But due to the market's rapid growth, there was now a gap between these two levels to be filled by middle to senior managers, who could draw up strategies and run daily business operations.

Hong Kong people are considered suitable for these positions as they are known to be adaptable to new business environments, are well versed in English, find it easy to travel abroad and have experience with multinational corporations, better team spirit and business sense.

'In the long term, China will need to train local people to operate in the free market, but at least in the next three to five years, it will need the expertise of people from around the world to help it grow,' Mr Chu said.

mainland expansion

MSN is looking for people with experience in sales and marketing, product development, product management and internet engineering.

New positions are at the consultant, senior manager and director levels for business strategies and running daily business operations.

New employees will receive a competitive local employment package.

The ability to speak Putonghua and English is advantageous, as well as experience with multinational corporations, good team spirit and sound business sense.