The boom in initial public offerings (IPOs) from mainland companies has produced a windfall for investment bankers and brokers, who receive handsome pay cheques and bonuses for their efforts.
But representatives of another class of finance professionals claim they are being short-changed.
Accountants from the Beijing office of international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) - mainly senior-grade employees with three to five years' experience - are demanding better compensation and benefits after receiving a disappointing annual salary revision late last month. They claim the salary increases of between 10 and 25 per cent did not reflect their hard work and was not in line with other international accounting firms.
They are also complaining about PwC's overtime policy, which stipulates that senior accountants will not be compensated for after-hours labour.
An accountant with PwC said that under mainland labour law, first- and second-year accountants are considered 'working class' and are entitled to compensation for overtime work. Accountants in higher grades are considered 'professionals' who should not enjoy such benefits.
Another PwC accountant in the Beijing office said: 'I don't understand the justification of no pay for overtime work for senior-grade accountants. Other big-four [accounting firms] pay overtime work for staff of all grades.'
A third PwC accountant said: 'Morale [in the audit team] is very low and some 10 senior-grade accountants have resigned.'