The report titled Managing Tomorrow's People involved a survey of 2,739 graduates from the mainland, the United States and Britain, each of whom had been offered jobs with PwC but had yet to start. Graduates outlined their future expectations of work.

Michael Rendell, partner and leader of human resources services at PwC, said in the survey: 'We set out to understand the people challenges that will impact organisations and consequently the implications this will have on the HR function as we know it.'

And the survey produced some expected and unexpected results, especially pertaining to the mainland.

A significantly higher proportion of mainland respondents believed they would work in a language other than their mother tongue, although only 2.8 per cent of them (compared to 7.9 per cent in the US and 7.1 per cent in Britain) thought they would work outside of their home country.

Reflecting on these differences, Mr Gilbraith said that the future role of HR in the mainland would differ from that in Britain and the US, but that both the east and the west would be able to learn from each other.

'Often in China, the chief executive takes on the more strategic role of HR, relating HR to more administrative tasks. There is some catching up to do. However, eastern management practices and care, in terms of gaining personal commitment from employees, is impressive,' he said.

It is this commitment that western organisations often have a difficult time emulating, and it is an attribute that they can learn from eastern organisations. 'The west is learning that engagement can be less about commitment to the organisation and more to do with personal relationships,' Mr Gilbraith said. 'Therefore, the west and the east are able to mutually benefit. However, with the new mainland Labour Law Contract, HR will begin to take a more western approach to managing workforce issues.'

For the survey, the research team developed plausible models of the future that consisted of three 'worlds' - the green, the blue and the orange.

It says the blue world sees big-company capitalism ruling, and as organisations continue to grow, individual preferences 'trump beliefs about social responsibility'. In the orange world, companies will 'break down into collaborative networks of smaller organisations', and specialisation will dominate. The green world, as its name suggests, will see social responsibility dominating the corporate agenda 'with concerns about climate and sustainability becoming the key drivers of business'.

The report suggests that all three worlds 'will feature in tomorrow's world to some extent'.

Mr Gilbraith pointed out that in terms of awareness of social and environmental issues, mainland firms had some way to go to be on par with western organisations. However, 'over time, as China develops, this gap will narrow.'

Despite this gap, 87.2 per cent of the mainlanders surveyed said that they would seek to work for employers whose corporate responsibility reflected their own values. Only 71.2 per cent of British respondents felt the same way.

As the report suggests, the three worlds will probably co-exist together in some form, but different worlds will take on stronger or weaker roles depending on location. 'I do believe that Britain will lead in the green model with their public focus on carbon emission.' Mr Gilbraith said.

However, the mainland would be more complicated: 'China is an enormous and diverse country therefore it is unlikely that one organisational model will become more prominent, as the country continues to develop.'

This fact demonstrates the necessity for companies operating in the mainland to have a flexible approach to managing tomorrow's workforce. As the report states: 'How are you addressing reward, international mobility, employee engagement, development and learning? Think about how these might change in the future and whether the strategy you have in place is future proof, is sustainable and relevant for the plausible worlds of tomorrow.'