Struggling Huawei loses ‘Genius Youth’ recruit Peng Zhihui, dealing a fresh blow to tech giant’s talent acquisition drive
- High-profile recruit Peng Zhihui has decided to leave Huawei, where his annual pay reportedly reached up to US$287,000, to pursue a new endeavour
- His departure has put a dent in the sustainability of Huawei’s ‘Genius Youth’ programme, which rewards successful candidates with fat pay cheques
That recruitment drive, later dubbed as the “Genius Youth” programme, gave priority to candidates whose research had produced “tangible and impactful” results, research papers or patents; those from top-notch laboratories or honours programmes; and winners of top international competition in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, according to the advertisement posted by Huawei on Weibo at the time.
In his post, Peng – known as top influencer Zhihuijun on Bilibili – thanked his colleagues and Huawei, adding that he will “start a new cause to do something more challenging”.
“Though there should be tactics in war, courage is fundamental,” Peng wrote in his post, citing a quote from ancient Chinese philosopher Mozi to suggest his passion for a new undertaking.
Huawei declined to comment. Peng did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Peng’s high-profile departure has now put a dent in the sustainability of Huawei’s Genius Youth recruitment programme, in which the company commits to pay successful candidates at least five times what their peers are making as well as provide mentorship and challenging projects.
“I’m doubtful about the programme,” said Xiang Ligang, founder of Beijing-based telecoms sector-focused information portal CCTime.com. “I don’t believe these so-called boy geniuses are taking the company to the next level.”
Ren has asked Huawei’s scientists and experts to hold cross-disciplinary discussions and “speak freely” about which direction the company should be headed, according to an internal memo published on the online company’s employees’ forum in July.
“Huawei grew into a giant without many of its leaders or engineers displaying much of the genius flair,” Xiang said. “Huawei needs people who fight hard battles and take concrete steps to grow.”
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In March, Huawei said it had hired more than 300 recruits through the Genius Youth programme, without elaborating on how many have left the company.
Peng has not been shy about his AI-related pursuits. “Manifesting the robots with flesh and giving it a soul with AI would be a geek’s true romance,” he said in an interview with local media Gitee.
He received his master’s degree in information technology in 2018 from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in southwestern Sichuan province, where he launched two start-ups involved in 3D printers and biped robots.