A relationship-based job market may only benefit those from wealthy families.

Article | Wei Cheng, a contributing writer for Caijing, is from London.

Editor | Jiang Wei

In an English online forum of "Financial migrant Workers" on Wall Street in New York, someone asked such a question: "in the City of London, is it like Wall Street in New York that someone is hired simply because they are relatives of company executives?"$200nodepositbonuscodes2022? "

Many people replied to the post, and almost all of them gave an affirmative answer.

One follower wrote: "it's true that this happens all the time, and the personnel department tries to convince employees that they are meritocratic, but everyone knows how these people get into the company." One of the managing directors of our company, who lives in New York City, planted his nephew in London. Everyone knew it, but pretended not to know it. "

Another follower replied: "this situation can be seen everywhere, but some countries talk about these things more openly." The British and Canadians think more highly of themselves than we Americans, but I'm sure the same thing happens there. "

On Wall Street in New York, the City of London, or in the financial world of other Western countries, insiders know these English words: nepo hires, or nepo kids, which means people who are hired by a company through nepotism, which is roughly equivalent to the Chinese equivalent of "rich second generation" or "connected family". It is said that these words are derived from the European and American show business buzzword "nepo baby", which suddenly became popular in 2020. Nepo is the abbreviation of English nepotism (nepotism), and "nepo baby" is about equivalent to "Xing er Gen" in Chinese context.

A person who works in a private equity fund also posted: "I have personally seen some freshmen who do not have any work experience, just because of the relationship, in HIG Capital (H.$200nodepositbonuscodes2022.I$200nodepositbonuscodes2022G. Capital), Silver Lake Capital (Silver Lake Technology Management), Fortress Investment (Fortress Investment Group), Towerbrook Capital (TowerBrook Capital Partners) and other large funds have been offered summer internships. I even know some people whose parents work in finance and take part in personal relationships to implement internships for their children. Of course, these nepo kids are quite heartless and often boast about their parents' connections, otherwise I wouldn't have known so much. "

The discussion in this online forum reminds me of a party I had with my friends not long ago.

During the dinner, a man who works at an investment bank in the City of London asked a friend of his who works in the media: "has my son graduated from college?"

"I will graduate this year. I want to get into the financial world. I'm already looking for a job, and I'm handing out resumes everywhere. " The media man replied.

"it's no use just sending resumes," the investment banker said. "A lot of companies advertise jobs for show or take the opportunity to promote the company. If your son wants to enter the financial world, he needs to find connections. It's important to find the right person. "

From politics to the workplace

Some people may say that most of the participants in your party may have come from Chinese mainland Chinese immigrants who are particular about relations, so it's no wonder.

and be not so. The participants in my party are all native Britons, not from Chinese mainland.

Some Chinese may find it strange: don't they say that all people in the West are equal, rely on their skills in the workplace, and don't pay attention to "daddy", background, connections, and mountain backers?

Wrong. The West also talks about relations, both in politics and in the workplace.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are people, there are relationships-interpersonal relationships. In all countries, interpersonal relationships are very important. It is true that there are great differences in systems and cultures between the East and the West, but the basic human nature is similar, more or less, people will prefer their relatives or acquaintances. This point does not distinguish between the East and the West, although it is restricted by the system and culture, but the restriction still varies from place to place.

The English word Nepotism, translated into Chinese as "nepotism" or "nepotism", mainly refers to giving employment, promotion and other opportunities to one's relatives, and sometimes to one's friends, fellow villagers and classmates. In the Chinese context, this is definitely a derogatory word, but in the English context, it is a neutral word, which depends on the specific environment to determine whether the word is commendatory or derogatory.

In the western family business, nepotism is a commendatory word and a living reality within the company, because the family business is owned, managed and inherited by family members, some family businesses are not listed, all shares are owned by family members, some family businesses are also listed, but controlled by the family, the family business will also hire people outside the family to work. However, the senior managers and the most important positions of the enterprise belong to family members and cronyism, which is only natural in the family business.

However, in western government agencies, public departments (such as public hospitals, public educational institutions, etc.), state-owned enterprises and non-family-controlled listed companies, cronyism is a derogatory term. Some (not all) western countries legislate to prohibit or restrict the cronyism of government agencies, public sectors and state-owned enterprises, but there is no legislation in any western country to prohibit or restrict the cronyism of private enterprises, let alone family enterprises.

Let us not underestimate the share of family businesses in the global economy. Family Business Network (Family Business Network) is a group that represents the family business. According to the group, family businesses account for 2/3 of all global businesses, 60 per cent of the world's workforce is employed by family businesses, which contribute more than 70 per cent of global GDP. Family businesses account for a higher proportion of enterprises in western countries.

Non-family-controlled listed companies, even if they are only accountable to shareholders, pay more attention to profits and performance than family-controlled companies. in theory, such companies should adhere to merit-based employment standards. whether it is the hiring of ordinary employees, the promotion of middle managers, or the selection of chief executives, the criterion of choice should be ability. Nepotism is obviously not conducive to the development of the company, so the word should be a derogatory term. But in fact, it is still quite common for such companies to hire and promote certain people because of nepotism, just like the example of financial companies mentioned by those who follow the tennis world at the beginning of this article.

原因何在？一来因为人性普遍的弱点$200nodepositbonuscodes2022；二来因为这类公司对这一人性弱点的制约，仅仅来自公司内部或行业内部的伦理规范，而并非来自国家的法律。

英国的一项调查发现，超过一半（55%）的雇主承认，他们更有可能雇用由自己的同事、朋友或家庭成员所推荐的工作申请人；近四分之一（24%）的雇主表示，他们更有可能招聘自己的校友；超过三分之一（34%）的雇主说，他们更有可能录用来自同一社会背景的求职者。

另外一项调查发现，在英国的所有城市中，伦敦是在职场上最讲究裙带关系的城市。招聘软件公司Applied对2000名处于就业年龄段的伦敦人进行了这项调查，结果发现，50%的伦敦求职者表示，他们是通过个人关系才找到工作的；八分之一的受访者承认，他们是因为个人关系才进入高级管理层的；同样因为个人关系被提拔为中层管理者的受访者比例是38%；但超过一半（53%）的受访者表示，他们“在原则上”不赞同任人唯亲的做法，认为通过裙带关系获取职位或晋升“不公平”；即使在那些通过关系找到工作或获得提拔的伦敦人中，也有25%不愿意与朋友或同事分享此事，说明他们内心对这种晋升方式有着某种羞耻感。

然而，心理上感到耻辱，是一回事，行动上拒绝这种“近水楼台先得月”的机会，则是另外一回事。因为这项调查还发现，在被问到是否会利用关系来改善自己的职场前景时，超过80%的受访者都做出了肯定的回答。

英国慈善组织萨顿信托（Sutton Trust）总干事尼克·哈里森表示，裙带关系和任人唯亲是阻碍社会流动的一大障碍。Applied的首席执行官凯蒂·桑达拉姆也认为，建立在关系之上的就业市场，可能只会有利于那些来自富裕家庭背景的人。

哈里森和桑达拉姆的观点得到了最新数据的支持：60%的伦敦金融城顶尖投行高管和三分之二的私募股权基金高管都上过学费高昂的私校。

裙带关系在南欧更为泛滥

如果说，在美国、英国、加拿大等英语世界的商业社会中，任人唯亲的例子不胜枚举。那么，在意大利、西班牙、希腊等南欧国家，你甚至可以用“泛滥”来描述企业的裙带关系状况。

马德里IE商学院企业家管理项目的执行主管乔·哈斯拉姆说：“在西班牙，找工作几乎没有公开的竞争。你的工作并不是百分之百属于你，你可能会把它预留给家族里另一个成员。在西班牙，如果一个亲戚没有工作，会被视为是整个家族的问题，所以很多时候，较差的候选人得到了职位，因为他们直接或间接与公司高管有关系。”

但哈斯拉姆谈论的，并不仅仅是西班牙的家族企业。

希腊也不例外。欧盟2014年的反腐败报告曾经指出，67%的投资者把裙带关系看成是在希腊经营公司时遇到的一个“非常严重或相当严重的问题”。今天希腊的裙带关系则变得更为严重。一位定居在希腊的中国移民2022年写道：“在希腊这样一个人情社会，裙带关系是非常常见的社会现象，广泛存在于希腊的企业、学校、医院、军队和政府部门。”

意大利劳动部则在2013年的一项调查报告中指出，61%的意大利企业招聘依靠个人介绍。10多年过去了，情况并没有好转。来自意大利的盖布里尔·法布里齐奥·斯巴尔比说：“在意大利找工作，你真的需要认识人才行，对没有人脉的年轻毕业生来说尤其如此。”

更糟糕的是，在意大利，裙带关系并不局限于私有企业。

斯巴尔比说，在意大利的公共部门，一些职位基本上是世袭的。例如，在意大利臭名昭著的“关系门”丑闻中，人们发现巴勒莫大学（University of Palermo）一半以上的教职人员至少有一个亲戚在该大学工作。

读者User483784也在报纸上这样写道：“意大利裙带关系的严重程度令人震惊，尤其是在政府机构中。例如，意大利外交部的某些职位居然由父亲传给了儿子。”

值得一提的是，nepotism（裙带关系）这个英文词，来源就是意大利语的nipote（侄子），据说是因为中世纪的教皇常常把高级牧师职务授予自己的侄子（实际上是自己的私生子）。近至2023年，意大利总理梅洛尼还因“举贤不避亲”、提拔亲姐姐担任要职而引发争议。

有一个国家逃过了家族企业的诅咒

尽管裙带关系在公私领域受到不同的制约，如今人们越来越清楚地认识到任人唯亲的负面影响。

首先，任人唯亲会阻碍更优秀的人进入一家公司，从而拖累该公司的业绩和发展，其后果就像遗传学上的“近亲繁殖”一样。

英国人力资源问题专家简·桑利指出：“任人唯亲对一个公司的企业文化可能是毁灭性的，因为你会错失那些能带来新想法和技能的人才。”

其次，在今天全球各国的人才争夺战中，任人唯亲也会严重削弱一个国家的竞争力。

意大利就因“猖獗”的裙带关系而深受其害。许多受教育程度很高的意大利年轻人，因为该国令人窒息的裙带关系，看不到自己的发展前景，最终选择离开了自己的祖国，移居到其他不那么看重人脉关系的国家。

前面提到的斯巴尔比，就是这批意大利新移民大军的一员。斯巴尔比后来离开了意大利，到墨西哥创办了一家新的房地产公司。

"in Mexico, no one knows me, no one knows this company, but they still come to us to place an order because they see the quality of our service," Sbarbi said after emigration. If this is to happen in Italy, then we must first change the whole culture. "

Even family businesses that regard cronyism as a matter of course are aware of the drawbacks of this approach. As a result, many family businesses in many countries have fallen into a succession crisis: because of adhering to the rule that "the family business cannot be spread abroad", the founders of these family businesses are unwilling to appoint people on the basis of merit and hand over the management power to professional managers outside the family. And their descendants lack management ability, so they fail to escape the curse of "no more than three generations of wealth" or even "decline of the second generation".

But one country is an exception. Many family businesses in this country see the shortcomings of cronyism. They want to combine family business inheritance with meritocracy so that they can select people who can do business without losing the nature of the family business. Their approach is unique among countries around the world: adopting adult men with business talent as adopted children to inherit the family business. Many well-known family businesses in this country have chosen this practice, which is called "talent selection and inheritance" by scholars, to continue the family business.

This country is Japan. These family businesses include Panasonic and Toyota.