Fewer bonuses given to China’s white-collar workers, survey suggests, as slowing economy begins to bite

The slowdown in the Chinese economy has spread its tentacles to China’s white-collar workers who have received fewer year-end bonuses, according to a survey carried out by a recruitment company.

The study by Zhaopin, a Beijing-based recruitment website, said 66 per cent of the 10,615 white-collar workers polled had not received, or expected, a year-end bonus.

That compares with the 61.2 per cent who gave the same answer when polled the previous year.

About 14 per cent of the people surveyed did get a bonus for 2015.

The average paid out was over 10,000 yuan (HK$12,000), nearly 3,000 yuan down from 2014, the survey showed. Workers were polled in 32 cities across China.

The survey suggested the longer a member of staff had stayed at a company the higher their bonus.

Staff who have worked for a company over 10 years received more than 18,000 yuan on average.