Huawei is determined to prove they don’t need America, or its business, hiring hundreds of workers across Europe and Canada to shore up the company against the sanctions levelled against them by the US.

Nikkei Asia reports a massive hiring push from the Chinese tech group, in which they are recruiting experts and Ph.D candidates in “artificial intelligence algorithms, autonomous vehicle engineering, software and computing infrastructure, chip development and quantum computing.”

Huawei is not hiring in the US.

“2021 and 2022 will be the most critical and challenging two years for Huawei to seek survival and strategic development. Talent is the most important key,” founder Ren Zhengfei said in an internal speech to shareholders.”

He plans to hire 8,000 Ph.D graduates in 2021, and increase research spending to the tune of “several billions of dollars”.