This from the Economist. We’d note that the turnover that the firms complain about is a good thing, since that means that there are plenty of opportunities outside the walled cities of the foreign multinationals:

Fierce competition and a limited supply of talent is resulting in high turnover rates. “The biggest issue is retention of people,” says E&Y’s Mr Wu. “Retention is much cheaper than recruitment.” One in ten executives changed job in the southern city of Shenzhen last year and one in 12 in Beijing, according to Hewitt. The same research points to a nationwide employee churn rate of 11.3% in 2004, up from 8.3% in 2001. Some smaller firms see turnover as high as 30%, but leading global firms are not immune. L’Oréal, with 3,000 people in China, says that staff turnover in its marketing department is nearly 15%. “A lot of fresh graduates leave. We lose almost all we hire in the first three years,” says Daisy Dai, its human-resources director.

Pay and benefits are soaring. A Chinese middle manager at a foreign company in Beijing or Shanghai can now command total annual cash compensation (salary plus bonus) of $27,000-$32,000, says Hewitt. Senior managers receive between $46,000 and $54,000 and top executives can expect $80,000 to $90,000 or more. While underlying inflation in China is around 2%, average annual salary increases for mid-level and senior managers are now 6-10%. Lai Kam-tong at the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management says that accountants’ salaries are rising by 14% a year. Jürgen Viethen, general manager for F&G China Electric, a small Spanish-owned electrical switchgear-maker, is offering key employees raises of up to 50%—and still losing them.

Bonuses, longer-term incentives, free housing and meals, a mobile phone and a set of wheels are becoming standard perks. More than one-third of 1,600 multinational firms surveyed by Hewitt now offer a company car. More holidays, maternity and paternity leave, more frequent job rotation and share options also now feature. Add in the big contributions that employers must make to China’s national security fund system and the total cost of an employee can be double his basic pay.

Still, the disparity with the dollar a day people in the countryside is worrisome, though it’s hard to imagine any solution other than the growth that China is relentlessly pursuing.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2005 at 7:33 am and is filed under business, China, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.