It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Professional Foreigner!

Graduating in the midst of a recession, US graduate Samuel Massie went to Guangzhou, China, to become a business analyst. In an essay for the New York Times, he describes the cultural adjustment and the attention received for being the lone foreigner. The company used him for translation and recruiting videos. Colleagues sought advice, not complaining about “censorship, pollution or human rights,” but rather high housing costs that made starting a family difficult. Workers saved and kept to themselves in company dorm rooms, a lifestyle that Massie describes as a “slow, spiritual death.” Massie crafted a survey, posted it online and collected 300 anonymous responses on the company’s salary, food and conditions. After two warnings, Massie removed the survey, apologized, gave his results to management and concedes that any US company would object “if a worker distributed a survey to the whole company without permission, and in the end, my company was quite forgiving.” Massie concludes that “data and a few good questions” can be helpful in tackling problems, and “to understand” is essential for making a difference. – YaleGlobal