China’s companies cut back on year-end bonuses as profit margins narrow
As China heads into the Year of the Horse, its firms’ bonuses have slowed to a trot, with many employees missing out completely
Many companies have even barred employees from discussing bonus details in public. Such a collective “low-key” approach has itself become a telling footnote to the shifting workplace landscape nationwide, compared with the generous bonuses and lavish gifts showered upon employees during the tech and real estate boom.
Data corroborates this shift. According to a 2026 market outlook and salary report released in January by Randstad, a global human consulting firm, 26 per cent of respondents said they would receive no year-end bonuses for 2025, while nearly half the reported payouts topping out at the equivalent of one to two months’ salary.
She added that even among companies with growth projections, “only a few business units are planning very limited headcount increases, while the vast majority of departments have frozen hiring”.