China’s ‘transcoders’: how the tech sector is still luring non-computer science graduates with the promise of higher wages

There have been plenty of headlines recently about job losses in China’s tech sector, with economic headwinds, greater regulatory scrutiny and changing market dynamics putting pressure on employment prospects.

But fresh challenges bring new opportunities, and many people are still being drawn to jobs at firms that will define the next stage of the country’s economic development.

William Zhang, who studied linguistics in college and once worked as a translator, recently started working towards the Certified Information Systems Security Professional qualification, which could put him into a higher-paid cybersecurity job.

“I’m seeking a career path change as a cybersecurity expert. The job requires knowledge about computer code security, but is not as demanding as high-level programming jobs,” said Zhang, who is in his early 30s and currently employed at a major tech company’s anti-fraud department in Beijing.

Although his current job only involves research and report-writing, his employer provides online computer science courses for beginners. He is taking the first session on operating system principles. which can take six months. Next stop will be training on computer networks and databases, which could take about a year.

At the end of this, Zhang is hoping to land a cybersecurity job with a 50 per cent pay rise. This job will be responsible for ensuring that networks are safe from external threats, such as hacking – an increasingly powerful threat as more companies digitalise their operations. “The exact salary will of course depend on ability and experience,” he said.