Mainland Chinese vote Tencent, Alibaba as best tech employers
Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group were voted as the best technology companies to work for in China this year, winning their employees’ hearts with company cultures that value new ideas and dreams, a survey shows.
Chinese internet giant Tencent took No 1 spot while e-commerce giant Alibaba ranked No 4 in the annual survey on the best mainland China employers, jointly conducted by recruitment platform Zhaopin and Peking University.
Among the top 10 best employers were China Merchants Bank in second place and German carmaker BMW’s China unit in third spot.
The survey, conducted between August and December, drew participation from 4.08 million members of the general public who were asked to nominate and vote for the best employers based on company image, culture, salaries and benefits, and management, among others.
In the same study last year Tencent didn’t make the top 10 list but won an honorary outstanding achievement award, while Alibaba was not included in the study.
Baidu, which along with Alibaba and Tencent are collectively known as BAT, dropped to the 12th place this year from last year’s No 2 position.
Zhaopin chief executive Evan Guo said Tencent, which runs China’s largest instant messenger WeChat, is well-known for its attention to the user experience. “Tencent cares about its employees’ personal experience at the company. This is built upon its long-term strategy of attaching great importance to the user experience,” he said.
Tencent cares about its employees’ personal experience at the company. This is built upon its long-term strategy of attaching great importance to the user experience
The company’s staff are therefore more encouraged to express new ideas and be innovative, Guo said.
Many Chinese workers were envious of Tencent’s 31,557 employees in November as each of them would receive 300 shares of the company over the next three years in celebration of its 18th anniversary. The stock closed at HK$187.8 on Friday.
Tencent also said it had prepared 30 million yuan worth of virtual WeChat red packets to give away to employees – both past and present – as gratitude for their contribution to the company. The value of each red packet ranges from 188 to 1,888 yuan.
For Alibaba, its company culture is driven more by dreams and mission, with its team spirit helping to attract employees, Guo said.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
This year’s findings also showed that “respect for staff” was the most important factor when people are choosing an ideal employer, while salary and benefits came in as second most important.
Tech companies are well-received among Chinese employees, with 24 companies from the information technology, telecommunications, electronics and internet sectors named in the top 100 best employers list.
However, tradition industries also performed even better, with 26 companies from manufacturing and process industries among the top 100.
“Traditional industries, such as manufacturing and banking, remain the pillar of the Chinese economy, and some top-notch companies from these sectors are attractive to employees,” Guo said.
In a similar survey in the US conducted by job search and evaluation platform Glassdoor, Facebook was ranked as the best tech company to work for next year and took No 2 spot among all categories of US companies. Bain & Co, a global business consulting firm, was named best place to work in Glassdoor’s study, while Google ranked No 4.
