WHEN A WESTERNER says 'ni hao' to a mainland workforce, the collective response is usually: 'Wah - your Chinese is good!' But if an overseas Chinese were to say 'ni hao' to them, the reaction could be quite different, even negative.
Negative treatment of overseas Chinese superiors by mainland workers is not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, there is a view that mainland employers should not rush to hire overseas Chinese or returnees to manage a company.
Several multinationals based in China are hiring overseas Chinese and returnees of Chinese descent to manage local staff, and this has resulted in a dichotomy, with ethnic Chinese who are bilingual (speaking fluent English and Chinese) and possess both formal qualifications and overseas experience, and local Chinese who do not have these advantages.
The situation can be just as delicate when a Chinese executive from a first-tier city is hired to manage a mainland workforce in a second-tier city.
'Second-tier city workers resent working for managers from first-tier cities such as Beijing and Hong Kong, and for overseas Chinese,' said Michael Cronin, former executive vice-president of human resources and finance for vehicle parts maker Asimco Technologies, and now working for Hewitt Associates.
'They consider them arrogant. Besides, they don't see why a fellow Chinese should be earning more than they do.'