Huawei offers top talent at least five times what their peers are making to join Chinese giant

Huawei Technologies, which has taken to describing itself as a bullet-ridden warplane, is writing fat pay cheques to woo top talent to join its ranks.

“If you are the best of the best and you want to push the boundaries of science: we want you,” read a recruitment advertisement posted on its official WeChat account. Huawei is looking for people “who have made extraordinary achievements in mathematics, computer science, physics, materials science, chips, smart manufacturing, or chemistry – and who are hungry to become leaders in their fields.”

The Shenzhen-based telecommunications equipment giant is prepared to pay these successful candidates at least five times what their peers are making, provide them with world-class, challenging projects, and mentorship by renowned global experts, according to the post.

Huawei earlier offered annual salaries of up to US$300,000 to top Chinese graduates. The company declined to comment on the post.

Huawei has spent the equivalent of more than 10 per cent of its sales revenue on research and development every year over the past decade. Last year, more than 80,000 Huawei employees – 45 per cent of its total workforce – were involved in R&D. A total of 101.5 billion yuan (US$14.4 billion) was spent on R&D last year, accounting for 14.1 per cent of the company’s total revenue.