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"Global Workforce Index" shows that 

Chinese employees came out on top for enterprise loyalty during the global economic turmoil in the Asia-Pacific region
The arrival of economic rebound has brought golden opportunities to Chinese enterprises.
2010 will bring more opportunities in Chinese job market than the previous year.

"Global Workforce Index", issued by Kelly Services, the world's leading human resources and workforce solutions consulting firm, shows that:

  • Chinese employees come out top in enterprise loyalty during the global economic turmoil in the Asia Pacific region
  • The arrival of economic rebound has brought golden opportunities to Chinese enterprises
  • 2010 will witness more opportunities in Chinese job market than the previous year

 

The Kelly Global Workforce Index is a survey revealing opinions about work and the workplace from a generational viewpoint. The survey started on October 1, 2009 and ended on January 31, 2010. Kelly interviewed approximately 134,000 employees from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific region.

 

Chinese employees' enterprise loyalty is among the highest in the Asia Pacific region 

The world's most loyal employees mainly work in North America - 52% of employees say they feel "totally committed" to their jobs, higher than Asia Pacific region (47%) and Europe (36%)

53% of the Chinese employees say they feel "totally committed" to their jobs, and this data is among the highest in the Asia Pacific region.

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The arrival of economic rebound has brought opportunities to companies located in China

In general, 10% of respondents worldwide said that the economic recession had weakened their loyalty to their employers, 63% commented that it had made no impact, while 27% remarked that they had greater loyalty to their employers following the economic recession.

22% of respondents in China said that the economic recession had weakened their loyalty to their employers, 57% commented that it had made no impact, while 21% remarked that they had greater loyalty to their employers following the economic recession.

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The Chinese employees saying that economic recession will lower their loyalty to employers outnumber the overall average. And those expecting more loyalty suggest the main reasons include such factors as the improvement or the maintenance of salary levels, effective management and access to opportunities of training and personal development. In contrast, employees who are "less committed" say that this change is caused by mismanagement and salary reduction.

When the economy prospers, competitive salary will decrease the employees' turnover rate. But when the economy declines without any pay raise or even with curtailed payment, the leadership and management will be highlighted as the main reasons for employees' turnover. Years of rapid economic development in China and the continuing increase of Chinese enterprises and their scales result in the relative lack of senior management, and many young employees are promoted to important management occupations. Their leadership and management ability will directly affect their employees' loyalty. During a serious economic downturn, employees' loyalty will face a huge challenge.

“Overall, though the global economic turmoil brought some instability to Chinese employees psychologically, generally they showed remarkable resilience. Due to the fact that, the Chinese government adopted proactive strategies to revitalize the economy, it allowed Chinese enterprises to avoid serious economic crisis as had occurred in other countries. As a result the loyalty of Chinese employees to their employee was not affected. However, we should note that, if the economic depression continues enterprises in China would still face a high risk. The arrival of economic rebound provides an opportunity for Chinese enterprises to minimize their risk, improve their leadership and enhance management skills. ” Mr. Zhang Zhisheng, General Manager of Kelly Services in China, said. 

Economic rebound brings new challenges for companies located in China

Globally Gen Y (aged 18-29) has emerged with somewhat greater loyalty than Gen X (aged 30-47) and baby boomers (aged 48-65).

However, in China, 57% of Gen X (aged 30-47) say they feel "totally committed" to their employers, while 52% of baby boomers (aged 48-65) and 50% of Gen Y (aged 18-29) share the same view.

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It shows that China's Gen Y (aged 18-29) possess less loyalty than that of the other two generations, which is quite different from other countries.

China's Gen Y (aged 18-29): They work for a company for an average of 2-3 years. Employees aged 28-30, will soon face a turning point in their career, and many of them hope to get a better career and salary by transferring to another company. Meanwhile, economic development has also increased the cost of living, which is another reason for the relatively fast rate of job changing.   During economic rebound, their executive and operation ability is much needed for fast-growing companies, especially technology-intensive R&D enterprises.

The other two generations of Chinese employees: they have mature management skills and professional experience, and take relatively well-paid and stable jobs. They can combine company goals with their own objectives. They pay more attention to the environment and the culture to which they have already adapted. As the key members who provide for their family, they do not want to hastily transfer to another job especially against the backdrop of uncertain economic prospects. However, on the other hand, many of them have reached a career bottleneck. With the economic rebound, companies will continue to expand, and these people will once again become the targeted talents of competing companies.

For a company's human resources strategy, economic rebound brings not only opportunities but also risks. Stark contrasts exist between employees of different generations, in particular between Gen Y (aged 18-29) and Gen X (aged 30-47). Meanwhile, these two generations will become the backbone of enterprises, so the brain drain will affect the future core competitiveness of the enterprises. These enterprises should base their strategies on the following features of Gen Y (aged 18-29).

  • High efficiency toward jobs which they think are meaningful
  • Enjoy a broader scope of work
  • More inclined to short-term returns rather than long-term returns
  • Pay more attention to work-life balance.
  • Have less enterprise loyalty, responsibility, team spirit and stress resistance than Gen X

Because of the above features, enterprises should adjust their management systems to tackle the change.

  • Make targeted adjustments among general salary levels, for example, increase the proportion of incentive, introduce broad banding and flexible benefits scheme
  • Provide a clear career plan
  • Provide opportunities for challenging work
  • Implement line leadership for their projects
  • Focus more on corporate culture and teamwork training
  • Provide opportunities for job rotation
  • Build more levels of communication channels

General Manager of Kelly Services in China, Mr. Zhang Zhisheng concludes: "During the new economic phase, companies will face more pressure from competitions for talents. A positive adjustment and rebuilding of responsive human resources management system is the key to ensure corporate core competitiveness and cope with economic turmoil."

 
Establishing employer brand becomes an important way to improve employees' loyalty

 Study in China shows that:

 36% of baby boomers (aged 48-65), 35% of Gen X (aged 30-47) and 32% of Gen Y (aged 18-29) respectively, think that corporate brand is "vital" in job-hunting and retention.

 30% of baby boomers say they feel "fully confident" about their employers becoming good corporate citizens, significantly higher than Gen Y (25%) and Gen X (21%).

Mr. Mark Hall, Director of Operations Greater China of Kelly Services, concludes: "Establishing employer brand becomes an important way to improve employees' loyalty. Employer brand is an important element for job-hunting and employment among employees and job hunters. Employees evaluate companies' reputation mainly on factors such as leadership, product and service quality, and corporate social responsibility. Meanwhile, the least focused factors are staff quality, global presence, financial position and company's established age etc."

2010 Chinese job market will bring more opportunities than the previous year

More respondents from China say that they have strong confidence in 2010 job market. Mr Chen Xu, vice president of zhaopin.com, says that data from their website also confirms this. With a comparison between data in February 2010 with 2009, the number of jobs online in zhaopin.com has a substantial increase over last year, representing an increase of 15%.

However, while there are more demands in recruitment, the number of job hunters doesn't show obvious increase, which means a decrease in talent competition index and increase in recruiting difficulty. As described earlier in this survey report, the increase of employees' loyalty will somehow reduce the proportion of job-changing, which will bring some degree of difficulty in recruiting. Another piece of significant data shows that, the proportion of overseas returnees among job hunters has increased in February 2010. While there are still some uncertainty in global economics, better economic environment in China has created more employment opportunities. Now there is an increase in the number of senior talents and both the supply and demand are booming. All in all the data shows that, for job hunters, 2010 means an increase in employment opportunities. But it should be also noticed that, 2010 is an important year for structural adjustment of various sectors. As such, job hunters should also take into account the potential of enterprise development. It has become even more important for enterprises to build and maintain employer brand when confronted with the somewhat increased difficulty in recruitment.