For German small and medium-sized entities having to struggle with competition from the Far East it may be a reason for hoping that the price war may be less fierce in the future. For those, however, who are directly committing themselves in China the findings of a joint study by the Hewitt Associates management consultancy and the VDI weekly newspaper may be rather a reason for concern. According to the study, salaries of executives and experts are strongly increasing in China. Furthermore, there is a lack of the kind of staff needed.
Although each year about 400.000 engineers graduate from Chinese universities, 92 percent of foreign companies in China questioned have big difficulties in finding adequate staff. Another problem is the combination of several salary parts which is common in China but hardly calculable by European standards. The total salary of a Chinese may exceed the basic salary by between 35 and 100 percent. Over the last six years basic salaries have risen in all fields by on average eight percent in China. During the same period the Chinese gross domestic product has risen by on average 8.6 percent each year. For 2006 a salary increase by seven to eight percent is forecast. Here are two salary examples: A manager of process technology working in the car industry earns on average 26.000 Euros (246.338 RMB) which is the best salary of its kind in this branch of industry. In the chemical industry the top salary is received by a manager of engineering with on average 29.000 Euros (274.280 RMB).
The “Engineers in China, labor market and salaries” 2006 study is available online with VDI news for 49 Euros. 