Zhaopin: 70% of China White Collars Aim to Land New Jobs

Zhaopin: 70% of China White Collars Aim to Land New Jobs

BEIJING, March 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhaopin Limited ("Zhaopin" or the "Company"), a leading career platform in China focused on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycle, found in its 2018 spring survey that about 70% of white-collar workers in China were taking actions to seek new job opportunities, while confidence in their career outlooks declined.

Spring is traditionally the peak season for job-hopping in China, as workers explore their options following the Chinese New Year holiday. Zhaopin conducted its spring survey to gauge white-collar workers' confidence in their careers, and their intentions to change jobs. More than 50,800 white collars participated in this nationwide survey.

Highlights of Zhaopin's survey for spring 2018:

  • About 70% of white-collar workers were taking actions to seek new jobs this spring. The figure declined from 80% a year earlier, but still remained at a high level.
  • Salary was by far the most important reason for white-collar workers to change jobs, with 55.8% indicating dissatisfaction with their current salary packages.
  • Emerging first-tier cities overtook first-tier cities as the top destination for white-collar workers seeking new jobs.
  • More and more white-collar workers in China were taking a positive attitude on job-hopping. About 35.9% believed that job-hopping demonstrated the courage to explore new possibilities.
  • The confidence of white-collar workers in their career development dropped to 3.71, compared with 3.95 for spring 2017. The confidence index is measured from 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest.

70% of white-collar workers taking actions to seek new jobs

March and April are the most active season for white-collar workers to change jobs. Zhaopin's survey found that about 70% were taking actions to seek new jobs this spring. The figure declined from 80% a year earlier, but still remained at a high level.

According to Zhaopin's survey, 12.9% of white-collar workers were in the process of quitting or onboarding this spring, and 56.7% were looking for new opportunities with updated resumes. The other 23.6% of white-collar workers indicated intentions to switch jobs, without having taken any action yet. Only 6.8% had no intention, or were not decided.

Job-hopping intention for spring 2018

Intention/action

Percentage

In the process of quitting or
onboarding

12.9%

Looking for new opportunities with
updated resumes

56.7%

Having intention but no action yet

23.6%

Not decided

5.5%

No intention

1.3%

Salary was by far the most important reason for white-collar workers to change jobs, with 55.8% of them indicating dissatisfaction with their current salary packages. Uncertain prospects at their companies and limited promotion opportunities were also key concerns that caused white-collar workers to quit their jobs and seek new opportunities.

Reasons for job-hopping

Reason

Percentage

Salary

55.8%

Uncertain prospects of companies

42.9%

Promotion limits

38.6%

Welfare packages

36.6%

Imbalance of work and life

23.7%

Not interested in current work

18.6%

Superior-subordinate relationship

14.2%

Better opportunities

10.8%

Relations with co-workers

5.7%

White-collar workers born in the 1980s and 1990s were the most active job-hoppers, as they were seeking faster growth in their career development. Those born in the 1970s and 1960s were relatively more stable with their current jobs.

Job-hopping action by demographics

Age group

Percentage taking action

Born in 1990s

69.6%

Born in 1980s

70.3%

Born in 1970s

64.2%

Born in 1960s

64.2%

In terms of work experience, employees with 5 to 8 years of experience were the most likely to change jobs, with 72.5% taking actions. Many of them were facing bottlenecks in their career development, and would like to seek better opportunities.

Job-hopping action by experience

Experience

Percentage taking action

Within 1 year

65.7%

1 to 3 years

69.6%

3 to 5 years

70.9%

5 to 8 years

72.5%

8 to 10 years

70.7%

Over 10 years

67.5%

White-collar workers in smaller companies were not as stable as those in big companies. Small companies with fewer than 100 employees found that 71.6% of their workers were looking for new job opportunities.

Job-hopping action by company size

Company size

Percentage taking action

Fewer than 100 employees

71.6%

101 to 1,000 employees

68.9%

1,001 to 10,000 employees

67.8%

Over 10,000 employees

67.3%

With the booming economy, the job markets in emerging first-tier cities were very active, and more white-collar workers in these cities were taking job-hopping actions.

Top 10 cities for job-hopping

Ranking

City

Percentage taking action

1

Chongqing

73.6%

2

Hefei

73.4%

3

Shenyang

73.2%

4

Xi'an

73.1%

5

Chengdu

72.9%

6

Wuhan

72.9%

7

Changsha

72.4%

8

Lanzhou

72.2%

9

Hangzhou

71.8%

10

Wuxi

71.8%

Emerging first-tier cities also overtook first-tier cities as the top destination when white-collar workers were looking for new jobs. About 33.2% of them would target jobs in emerging first-tier cities, compared with 32.7% preferring first-tier cities.

Job-hopping destination

Cities

Percentage

First-tier cities

32.7%

Emerging first-tier cities

33.2%

Second-tier cities

27.4%

Third-tier and below cities

6.7%

As to job-hopping frequency, 34.8% of white-collar workers would change jobs every 1 to 3 years, while 19.1% chose to get a new job every year. Still, there were 24.1% who were very stable and had never changed their jobs.

Job-hopping frequency

Year

Percentage

Within 1 year

19.1%

1 to 3 years

34.8%

3 to 5 years

15.4%

Over 5 years

6.6%

Never changed jobs

24.1%

More and more white-collar workers in China were taking a positive attitude on job-hopping. About 35.9% believed that job-hopping demonstrated the courage to explore new possibilities.

Attitude on job-hopping

View

Percentage

Having the courage to explore more
possibilities

35.9%

Lack of  clear self-awareness

22.5%

Impetuous and lack of maturity

17.4%

Not steady and reliable

9.9%

Helpful for fast promotion and pay
raise

7.4%

Motivated to make progress

6.9%

Confidence of white-collar workers in their careers declined

This spring, the confidence of white-collar workers in their career development dropped to 3.71, compared with 3.95 a year earlier. The confidence index is measured from 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest. The confidence still remained at a relatively high level, with 26.4% and 32.8% of white-collar workers identifying as "very confident" or "confident" in their career opportunities this year.

Confidence index 2014 – 2018

Year

Index

Spring 2014

3.32

Spring 2015

3.72

Spring 2016

3.26

Spring 2017

3.95

Spring 2018

3.71

Employees in joint ventures had the highest confidence, with an index of 3.75 in the survey, followed by 3.72 and 3.71 for wholly foreign-owned enterprises (including HK, Macao and Taiwan) and private companies.

Confidence index by types of companies

Type of company

Index

Joint ventures

3.75

Wholly foreign-owned enterprises
(including HK, Macao and Taiwan)

3.72

Private companies

3.71

State-owned enterprises

3.67

Public institutions

3.57

In terms of demographics, the more work experience, the more confident white-collar workers became in their careers. Employees born in the 1960s had the highest confidence, with an index of 3.95, while those born in 1990s were the least confident in their careers, with an index of 3.65.

Confidence index by demographics

Age Group

Index

Born in 1960s

3.95

Born in 1970s

3.92

Born in 1980s

3.80

Born in 1990s

3.65

White-collar workers in the IT/telecom/electronics/internet sector enjoyed the highest confidence, with an index of 3.79, followed by 3.78 for real estate/construction sector.

Confidence index by sectors

Sector

Index

IT/telecom/electronics/internet

3.79

Real estate/construction

3.78

Trade/wholesale/retail/leasing/fast-moving consumer
goods/durable consumer goods

3.71

Culture/media/entertainment/sports

3.70

Automobile/processing/manufacturing

3.67

Finance

3.66

Energy/minerals/environment protection

3.66

Agriculture/forestry/animal husbandry/fishery

3.66

Services (healthcare/nursing/beauty/hotel)

3.64

Education/arts and crafts

3.64

Traffic/transportation/logistics/warehousing

3.62

Professional
services (consulting/accounting/legal/advertising/PR/certification/
outsourcing)

3.60

Government/non-profit organizations

3.53

For more information, please contact:

Zhaopin Limited 
Ms. Serena Sun
roujia.sun@zhaopin.com.cn

ICR Beijing
Mr. Edmond Lococo
Phone: +86 10 6583-7510
Edmond.Lococo@icrinc.com

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