TAIPEI/PALO ALTO, U.S. -- China's tech sector is scrambling to snap up experienced engineers from foreign companies that are scaling back operations in the country amid a crackdown by the U.S.

When word got out recently that U.S. chip developer Marvell was laying off hundreds of workers in China, job postings from top Chinese tech companies and local chip companies targeting them went up almost immediately. The companies seeking talent range from tech heavyweights like Alibaba Group Holding and Huawei Technologies to local chip developers.

"Looking forward to seeing resumes from our dear peers from Marvell. Come work with Alibaba Cloud to develop storage-related products," said Zhu Zongpeng, senior engineering specialist at Alibaba, in a post on Maimai, China's version of LinkedIn.

"We welcome any Marvell employees who want to work with us," a human resources manager at the world's top drone maker DJI wrote on professional networking website MaiMai. "I am always online."

Marvell has announced job cuts at its two key research development centers in Chengdu and Shanghai. The California-based company has operated in China for over a decade and the country now accounts for more than 45% of revenue. Its layoffs come just weeks after the U.S. rolled out harsh new restrictions on China's chip sector, including curbs on American citizens working for certain Chinese tech companies.

While Marvell has not elaborated on the reasons for its head count reduction in China, local tech companies and recruiters struggling with extreme labor shortages are hopeful that it represents the start of a trend.

"If more foreign chipmakers decide to cut their workforces, it will be a golden opportunity for local chip developers to snap them up," Hu Yunwang, chip industry veteran and president of Shanghai Key-Team Human Resources Consulting, told Nikkei Asia.

"The fact is, Marvell engineers who got laid off in the morning could find several offers waiting for them that same afternoon if they wanted," Hu said.

For chip developers with five or six years of experience, some companies are offering pay packages of 1 million yuan ($136,931) or more, he said. Such offers are on a similar level as the compensation offered by global chip heavyweights like Intel and Micron, according to data from job website Glassdoor.

A Jiangsu Province-based headhunter at Presearch Consulting pitched jobs with local companies as offering more security. "It might not be stable to work with foreign companies now. Marvell is just the tip of the iceberg," she posted on Maimai. "Here we work with more than 300 companies and have lots of listings."

Several key U.S. chip equipment suppliers, including Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA, have pulled out employees sent as support staff to some Chinese clients following Washington's latest crackdown.

Some non-U.S. chipmakers have received a 12-month reprieve from the U.S. export controls but are still considering reducing their production footprint in China to minimize geopolitical risks. SK Hynix said in a worst-case scenario it might have to sell its operations in the country.

Local recruiting efforts have already accelerated since the latest U.S. chip export ban was announced on Oct. 8.

In one example seen by Nikkei Asia, a tech headhunter posted several job openings on WeChat for a Chinese artificial-intelligence chip startup seeking engineers with five years' experience, "preferably with experience working overseas or at top foreign semiconductor companies."

The startup is offering pay of between 1 million yuan and 1.5 million yuan, a "very competitive package compared to any chip giant or peer companies," according to the Chengdu-based headhunter.

"Packages like this used to be reserved for someone with more experience, but chip talent has never been in more demand and competition for hiring is intense," she added.

Chinese companies "are willing to pay top dollar" for engineers that have worked with South Korean or American semiconductor companies, said the Chengdu headhunter.

"After all, China's semiconductor industry is still facing a serious shortage of experienced engineers and really eager for good talents," said Hu of Shanghai Key-Team Human Resources.