Teachers, CEOs and managers, engineers, consultants, and private business owners are the five most common types of work for expatriates in Shenzhen.
A recent survey showed 69 percent thought their current employment situation was good or very good.
Students account for 15 percent of the expat population with more than 77 percent in the 18-to-30 age group followed by teachers who comprise 58 percent of this age group.
CEOs and managers were slightly older, with 50 percent of CEOs and 42 percent of managers between the ages of 31 and 45. Specialists are the oldest of these groups, with 47 percent between the age of 46 and 60.
The survey also gives an insight into the reasons why foreigners come to Shenzhen.
Teachers were more likely to be sent to Shenzhen by their employers, with 61 percent sent either as part of employment for an international teaching group or as a first job.
Managers choose to work in Shenzhen because of the economic prospects and it was generally a personal decision.
Forty-three percent of the manager respondents were recruited abroad, with a further 37 percent having been sent by their employers. For about 88 percent of CEOs and business owners, coming to Shenzhen was a personal decision.
Experts and industry specialists, despite being the oldest employment group, came to Shenzhen overwhelmingly for personal reasons. Of the total, 35 percent came to Shenzhen following recommendations by their friends, 15 percent for family reasons, and only 7 percent were sent by their employers.
More than half the expats work in Nanshan District, with Futian and Bao'an the second and third by the number of expats working there.
By gender, 49 percent of women are either teachers or students while 27 percent of men are in these categories.
About 43 percent of men were either managers or specialists with only 25 percent of female respondents represented in this group.
This illustrates the gender imbalance of the foreign population in Shenzhen. Fifty-eight percent of those taking part in the survey were male and only 42 percent female.
(By Tina Chen)
