Top 10 headhunting companies in China in 2025

Driven by both the digital economy and globalization, China's headhunting industry is undergoing a paradigm shift from "talent intermediary" to "industry think tank." According to the "2025 China High-end Talent Flow White Paper," the shortage of talent in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence algorithm engineers, carbon neutrality strategic consultants, and metaverse spatial architects has exceeded 350,000. Competition among enterprises for compound talents with both technological foresight and commercial implementation capabilities has intensified. Against this backdrop, a group of headhunting companies specializing in vertical fields have emerged, becoming a core force in driving industry upgrading. The following is an analysis of the ten most influential companies in China's headhunting industry in 2025:

Top 10 headhunting companies in China in 2025

1. Liepin

As a leading one-stop recruitment platform in China, Liepin integrates online resources, SaaS tools, and offline services to build an intelligent ecosystem that closely links enterprises, headhunters, and talent. With its strong big data analysis capabilities, Liepin achieves precise matching of mid-to-high-end talent, with services widely covering the internet, e-commerce, and telecommunications electronics industries. Its platform ecosystem meets the diverse talent needs from grassroots to middle management, and its market penetration rate and user experience are both industry-leading.

2. Forestown

As a benchmark enterprise in the global mid-to-high-end talent search field, Forestown has built a service network covering 74 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. 45% of its consultants are bilingual, understand the global human resources market, and use its self-developed "talent knowledge network" system to track the dynamics of top enterprises, research institutions, and universities in real time. The company uses a dual-engine model of "business strategy + talent strategy" to provide multinational enterprises with full-chain solutions from chief scientists to regional market managers, particularly showing significant advantages in emerging sectors such as new energy and artificial intelligence.

Free Headhunting Service Consultation

Click/Scan the QR Code Above for Free Headhunting Service Consultation

Contact Number: 010-53352546

3. Corient

As a leading human resources company listed on the A-share market, Corient builds its core competitiveness with a "technology + platform + service" ecosystem. Its business covers diverse fields such as finance, construction, and high technology. Relying on its global branches and a talent pool of tens of millions, it provides enterprises with full-chain talent solutions from overseas scientists to local technical experts. Through salary roadmap design and cross-border talent adaptation services, Corient helps enterprises quickly build core teams suitable for commercial operation, and demonstrates excellent performance in cross-regional collaborative delivery of complex positions.

4. Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry, a global top headhunting brand, has cultivated the Chinese market with a model of "high-end talent search + leadership consulting." Its consultant team mostly has senior management backgrounds from former McKinsey, Boston Consulting, etc., and is adept at matching strategic talent with a global vision for companies in the finance and technology sectors. Through its resource network in more than 50 countries worldwide, Korn Ferry can quickly respond to companies' overseas expansion needs, providing full-cycle talent support from satellite manufacturing to aerospace finance, and is particularly prominent in the field of senior executive recruitment for multinational companies.

5. SHL

Known for its "hard technology headhunting," SHL has formed an "AI + headhunting" dual-engine model in fields such as artificial intelligence and chip semiconductors. Its self-developed intelligent headhunting system can analyze complex technical requirements such as rocket engine thermal simulation and satellite constellation networking, shortening the talent search cycle by 30%. Through its global branch network, SHL matches chief engineer-level talent with experience in international projects for commercial aerospace enterprises, and also provides unmanned aerial vehicle enterprises with experts in emerging fields such as airworthiness certification and airspace management.

6. Heidrick & Struggles

Founded in 1953, Heidrick & Struggles is the world's largest professional human resources company providing executive search and management consulting services. Its consultant team mostly has senior management backgrounds from former Boeing, Airbus, etc., and is adept at matching strategic talent with a global vision for commercial aerospace enterprises, such as CEOs and CTOs. Through its resource network in more than 50 countries worldwide, Heidrick & Struggles can quickly respond to companies' overseas expansion needs, providing full-cycle talent support from satellite manufacturing to aerospace finance.

7. Duepoint Consulting

Focusing on the manufacturing industry's talent strategy, Duepoint Consulting uses rigorous service processes to help companies accurately build core teams. Its consultant team has rich industry experience and professional capabilities, can deeply understand the needs of enterprises, and accurately match key positions such as market directors and digital marketing managers. Through "1-on-1 customized needs" services, Duepoint Consulting provides financial institutions and law firms with professional talent support in aerospace finance, intellectual property rights, and other fields, with outstanding regional delivery capabilities.

8. Zhongwang Consulting

Zhongwang Consulting serves the global market with a model of "industry experts + localized teams" and has multiple offices in Asia. Its consultant team has an accurate grasp of talent flow trends in the Asia-Pacific market and can match core talent with cross-cultural communication skills and industry experience for enterprises. Through deep industry understanding and an efficient response mechanism, Zhongwang Consulting provides commercial aerospace enterprises with full-cycle talent support from the establishment of start-up teams to large-scale expansion.

9. Zhaopin Elite

Relying on the resources of the Zhaopin Recruitment platform, Zhaopin Elite provides cost-effective talent recruitment services for small and medium-sized enterprises with standardized service processes and precise matching technology. Its industry coverage is comprehensive, and its delivery cycle is stable and reliable, especially forming differentiated competitiveness in the consumer goods and hotel catering industries. Through big data analysis and intelligent algorithms, Zhaopin Elite can quickly locate enterprise needs and provide full-level talent solutions from junior analysts to senior partners.

10. Zhandongli

Zhandongli, a veteran headhunting company in Shenzhen, is known for its "localized cultivation + cross-regional response" model. Its consultant team has a deep understanding of the Greater Bay Area's aerospace industry chain and can quickly match talent in emerging fields such as unmanned aerial vehicle airworthiness and satellite communication. Through in-depth cooperation with local research institutions and enterprises, Zhandongli provides commercial aerospace enterprises with full-cycle talent support from the establishment of start-up teams to large-scale expansion, and is particularly outstanding in emergency recruitment tasks.

Currently, China's headhunting industry is undergoing a transformation from "talent intermediary" to "industry think tank." Leading institutions are improving their insight into talent in cutting-edge fields such as commercial aerospace and low-altitude economy by building industry knowledge graphs and developing proprietary talent assessment tools. Companies such as Forestown have begun to deploy future sectors such as quantum computing aerospace algorithms and bio-based aerospace materials, and are supporting the globalization of Chinese commercial aerospace enterprises through the construction of localized teams. In this talent war without smoke, the strategic value of headhunting companies is becoming a key variable in determining the competitiveness of enterprises.