HUAWEI Technologies Co. has gained strength through the years of U.S. sanctions and is ready to pay more for talent, aiming to lead the race in next-generation telecom technologies after 5G, founder and chief executive officer Ren Zhengfei said.

In an internal meeting with Huawei scientists and other employees in August, Ren dismissed the notion that the U.S. blacklist has defeated the Shenzhen-based telecom giant.

“There has been no chaos within the company,” the 76-year-old said, according to a transcript of the conversation. “Instead, the company is now more united than ever, and has even attracted more talent.”

Ren said Huawei plans to recruit more international talent by offering them higher salaries than current market rates, as the company pushes to overcome U.S. trade sanctions.

“Our company is now in a critical period of strategic survival and development, so we must have the required talent as we charge ahead,” Ren said.

“We must recruit people who are more capable than us,” he said. “Our compensation packages must align with international talent markets, [be] higher than those offered by local talent markets. This is necessary to attract the best talent.”

Ren said Huawei has not changed its policies on salary and bonus distribution, job grade raises and company share distribution, despite the disruptions caused by U.S. trade sanctions in the past two years. Huawei had 197,000 employees worldwide, according to its 2020 annual report.

The United States has cut Huawei off from key chipsets and American technologies from semiconductor design tools to Google’s latest Android system for smartphones.

Huawei clinched a major 5G equipment deal from a top Chinese telecom operator in July, indicating it has managed to keep the core telecom gear business running. It also released a marquee smartphone but failed to arm it with fifth-generation, or 5G, capabilities due to lack of chip supply. (SD-Agencies)