Large bonuses have prompted a shopping splurge as Chinese New Year approaches. [China Daily]
Generous payouts trigger shopping spree, a sign of economic recovery
As a sign of recovery from the financial crisis, more than 50 percent of companies in Beijing this year have given year-end bonuses to their employees. This is a 10 percent jump from last year.
The number of companies handing out year-end bonuses in 2010 has returned to 2007 levels, one year before the financial crisis, according to job agency Zhaopin.com.
"This is because the economy has recovered and business grew in 2009," said Zhao Lipeng, senior payment consultant with Zhaopin.com, which released a survey on year-end bonuses in 2010.
Zhao said companies in the banking, real estate and automobile industries displayed the most significant change in their annual bonuses because they were hardest hit by the financial crisis in 2008.
"The biggest bonus in the banking sector could be millions of yuan. Bonuses for these three industries could be twice the average," Zhao said.
The average bonus of most employees in Beijing this year was 4,800 yuan, with managers pocketing more than 10,000 yuan, Zhao said.
A securities company employee surnamed Li, 26, said he received about 600,000 yuan in January, much more than last year.
"The bonus is payback for all my hard work over the year. Of course, our business has grown too," Li said.
A 24-year-old man, surnamed Lu, who has worked in an automobile company since August 2009 and was given 5,000 yuan as a bonus this year, said: "I am content with the bonus."
However, most employees surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the amount they received.
"I am not satisfied with my 40,000-yuan bonus at all," said a 37-year-old woman who refused to be identified. She did admit to being a director of a State-owned aeronautic company with more than 10 years in the firm.
The director said she had worked hard in 2009 and often went on weekend business trips, but the bonus did not even cover this, she said.
Some foreign companies paid out lower bonuses with claims that their businesses were still affected by the economic woes of other countries.
"Although it is a prosperous year in China, my boss said the industrial sector continues to be hit hard by the situation in other countries," said a female worker at a foreign PR agency who refused to be named.
She added that although she had not received her bonus yet, she doubted it would exceed 500 yuan.
According to the survey, more than three-quarters of recipients chose to deposit some of the money and spend the rest during Spring Festival.
A woman surnamed Shan, who works at a State-owned finance company and is expecting to receive her bonus in March, said she wanted to buy a black evening gown from Lane Crawford with a price tag of more than 20,000 yuan.
"It is the best use of my bonus, because it shows all my hard work," Shan said.
