A significant 19 per cent of workers in Mainland China plan to change employers within six months with 28 per cent already on the hunt for a new job, according to recruiting experts Hays.
According to the 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide, nearly half of all candidates surveyed in Mainland China plan to change employers within the year and 43 per cent are currently open to an offer.
“Our Guide is an excellent indicator of generational change amongst Mainland China’s workforce. Salary and benefits remain a key driver for job hunters, but we are seeing candidates place greater value on non-financial benefits too particularly on ‘career progression’ said Simon Lance, Managing Director of Hays Greater China.
“A total of 65 per cent of candidates told us that ‘salary or benefit packages’ was the top reason for looking for a new role, an increase from the 63 per cent of respondents who cited this reason last year,” said Simon. ‘Lack of career progression’ was the second most common reason (60 per cent) followed by a desire to ‘seek new challenges’ (43 per cent)”.
Professional development a way to future proof your career
“In a continuing trend, career development remains important to candidates, but 20 per cent say there is no scope for ‘career progression’ with their current employer and 39 per cent are unsure about what’s available. This makes the case for employers to communicate career pathway options more clearly as well as what responsibilities lie with employees themselves,” said Simon.
“For our 2018 Salary Guide, we added a new question asking candidates if they think their current skill set will be in demand in five years’ time. Most candidates said ‘yes’ (53 per cent) with 36 per cent telling us they spend 3-5 hours on professional development weekly.”
“Our research points to the need for employers to foster greater self-sufficiency amongst employees when it comes to professional development. The importance of this issue is underscored by the fact 98 per cent of employers in Mainland China responding to the 2018 Salary Guide believe skill shortages have the potential to hamper effective business operations over the coming year.”
“However, the most important message is for talent who want to stand out from the pack. Staying relevant in a fast changing employment market is the responsibility of every candidate in Mainland China and should be their top priority for 2018,” said Simon.
Salary expectations
Of the candidates surveyed, 57 per cent are unhappy with their ‘compensation & benefits’ package while 43 per cent are happy.
Despite this, a massive 74 per cent did not ask for a pay rise in the last year. A further nine per cent asked but were not successful, while 17 per cent asked and received a pay bump.
In 2018, the largest proportion of respondents (85 per cent) expects a pay rise of more than six per cent while nine per cent expect an increase from between 3-6 per cent. Another three per cent expect an increase of up to three per cent with three per cent expecting no salary increase over the coming year.
During their last review, seven per cent of candidates did not receive a pay rise but 45 per cent received a bump of more than six per cent. 38 per cent received a pay rise from between 3-6 per cent, while ten per cent were awarded an increase of up to three per cent.
This year in Mainland China, just over half of employers (51 per cent) plan to award increases of more than six per cent while another 35 per cent expect to increase salaries from between 3-6 per cent. Nine per cent plan to award salary increases of up to three per cent while five per cent will offer no salary increase.
Other key candidate findings from our survey include:
• 35 per cent regard their current work-life balance as “good” and a further 12 per cent as “very good”.
• 35 per cent rate their work-life balance as “average”, 13 per cent as “poor” and five per cent as “very poor”.
• 61 per cent of candidates are willing to relocate for a job (down on the previous year’s 69 per cent).
• 62 per cent believe their performance is fairly evaluated by their employer while 38 per cent do not.
Learn more about the 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide by clicking here.
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About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2017 the Group employed 10,000 staff operating from 250 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2017:
– the Group reported net fees of £954.6 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £211.5 million;
– the Group placed around 70,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 240,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 24% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific, 49% in Continental Europe & RoW (CERoW) and 27% in the United Kingdom & Ireland;
– the temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mainland China, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.