(Yicai Global) March 24 -- Bestore, headquartered in the city at the epicenter of China's coronavirus epidemic, seeks to recruit 6,500 staff this year in a bid to significantly grow its workforce as the major snack producer expands business.

The scale of Bestore's recruitment plan ranks the Wuhan-based company first among employers hiring in Hubei, the province worst hit by the virus outbreak. It had 9,627 staff at the end of June 2019. The firm aims to take on 3,500 this spring.

Bestore's intentions are actually a two-year employment plan that has been put into motion ahead of time, Senior Vice President Zhao Gang said in an interview with Yicai Global. He also said Bestore's annual growth target would not be lowered, though operations were affected by the epidemic.

The company started this year's recruitment drive about a month later than usual due to the epidemic, which is essentially under control in the country. The authorities announced today the easing of travel restrictions in Hubei from tomorrow after months of lockdown.

Bestore is looking to fill new posts in sales, logistics, management, production technology, research and development, and supply chains. High-level posts, offering compensation of more than CNY1 million (USD141,000) a year, for successful candidates across the globe also form part of its plan. In addition to that, staff taken on this year will enjoy higher pay than those in the same posts hired previously.

The company's shares [SHA:603719] rose 4.1 percent today to close at CNY53.50 each. That's a four-fold increase from its initial public offering price of CNY11.90.

Founded in 2006, Bestore debuted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in an online social-distancing ceremony in February, raising about CNY773 million (USD1.1 million). The funds will be used to develop its sales networks, warehousing and logistics systems as well as digital upgrading of its information systems.

First Public Talent Search

Bestore will send nearly 3,000 of the new employees to frontline outlets nationwide, while the remaining 3,000 will work at the company's several logistics hubs around the country. It has more than 2,000 brick-and-mortar stores in over 100 cities.

It also plans to build three regional logistics centers in the southwest, south and north of China, in addition to its hub in central China.

Zhao explained that this is Bestore's first public search for top talent with annual salaries worth over CNY1 million each, adding that the company's product research institute has completed preliminary structuring and platform construction, which calls for the introduction of more high-level research talent.

Those positions include the institute's chief scientists, senior executives to manage its global supply chains, and Big Data specialists in goods and logistics services.

Zhao said the recruitment plan was decided on by Bestore founder Yang Hongchun and the firm's management team after a lot of analysis and evaluation. This is not only in response to the government's call to stabilize employment in the wake of the epidemic, but also in line with the firm's plans to open more stores and promote talent.

In the course of the outbreak, the company found that the snack food sector had huge market space and anti-risk capability, Zhao said. Bestore also realized that many people who were stranded in Hubei would consider looking for new jobs after the epidemic was brought under control, so starting recruitment at this stage could attract more people, including high-end and basic talents, and will allow the firm to complete the optimization of its talent structure.

More expenditure on labor now is worthwhile because talent is the essence of a company's continuous growth, Zhao noted.

Most of Bestore's more than 200 processing plants in China have resumed production, he said, adding that they are operating well and are capable of filling the gap in supplies caused by the consumption of inventories since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Peter Thomas