Earthquakes have, generally speaking, very little to do with HR.
The one that has just happened in China is primarily a natural disaster and should be dealt with as such. But already it is having an effect on hiring and retention. Companies in East China, who are already short of workers, are seeing staff from Sichuan return home to find relatives.
Supply chain effects will mean many difficulties for companies that assemble final parts. Unemployment will follow the disaster, followed by a period of reconstruction that will generate more jobs.
Lastly, I note the outpouring of financial and practical support is creating a generation of people in China who will act when they feel it is necessary, without recourse to authority figures. This changes the game because much of what happens in Chinese offices and factories is completely reactionary. People act when they are told to act.
Helping Out
There are online destinations where you can help but it can be difficult to find sites, and figure out how they will use the money. Most sites are about donating cash but some allow you to show moral support simply by clicking a banner, or entering missing people’s names, or giving blood, or sending an SMS which has part of its cost routed to a charity.
These links might provide you with some ideas, or some alignment with how you actually want to help. Some may need a proxy:
US REDCROSS http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/Intl_profile_ChinaEarthquake
CHENGDU REDCROSS http://www.chengduredcross.org
CHINA CHARITY http://www.chinacharity.cn/wzdefaultservlet
MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES http://www.msf.org.hk/public/main2
GOOGLE SEARCH PLATFORM http://www.google.cn/intl/zh-CN/qinren/cse.html
WORLD VISION http://donate.wvus.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10025
MSN & TOYOTA http://info.msn.com.cn/caihong/rainbow.html
CARE FOR CHILDREN http://www.careforchildren.com.cn/appeal/
TIANYA http://cache.tianya.cn/publicforum/content/free/1/1224965.shtml
CHINESE CHILDREN http://www.chinesechildren.org/Sichuan_earthquake.aspx
CHINA REDCROSS http://redcross.org.cn
CWDF http://www.cwdf.org.cn
SNDA http://www.sdo.com/08earthquake/theme/index.htm
CAFANC http://www.cafanc.org/donate/
CCTF http://www.cctf.org.cn/English/index.htm
MERCY CORPS http://www.mercycorps.org/chinaearthquake/?source=1062
SOHU http://news.sohu.com/20080512/n256808674.shtml
CRCF http://www.crcf.org.cn/gb/jianjie/jkindex.asp
OXFAM https://www.oxfam.org.hk
BULLOG http://www.bullog.cn/blogs/liuyanban/archives/136782.aspx
ONE FOUNDATION http://www.onefoundation.cn/zhuanti/080512dz/index.htm
CFPA http://www.fupin.org.cn/en/index.asp
SCF http://scf.88547.com/home/
CPGP http://www.givingchina.org/GiveNow.asp
GLOBAL GIVING http://www.globalgiving.com/china.html
HALF THE SKY http://www.halfthesky.org/journal/?p=88
CHINA MERCHANTS BANK http://live.cmbchina.com/webpages/tda_sc/index.html
YEEPAY http://www.yeepay.com/mlove/
HEART TO HEART http://www.hearttoheart.org/give.aspx?tween=false
BLOOD DONATIONS http://shanghaiist.com/2008/05/14/give_blood_and_help_the_earthquake_victims.php
TSINGHUA FOUNDATION http://tsinghuafoundation.org/earthquake08/index.html
DO YOU HIKE http://www.doyouhike.net/forum/512dizhen/296659,0,0,0.html
UNICEF (NEW WEBSITE) http://www.unicef.org/china/
OSCCF http://www.osccf.org/donation_method.aspx?lan=cn
SERCOC http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=finance&MsgID=1107371
AMERICARES http://www.americares.org/
WORLD FOOD PROGRAM http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2847
If you have anymore sites to link to, you can email me at frankmulliganchina at gmail dot com. If there are any issues with any of the donation sites in the list above, an email to the same address please. This post does not constitute legal advice … So give with care.
