Zhaopin: Emerging First-tier Cities More Attractive to Job Seekers in China
First-tier cities become a key source of talent outflow
BEIJING, May 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhaopin Limited ("Zhaopin" or the "Company"), a leading career platform in China focused on matching talent with skills and opportunities through their career lifecycle, released its Spring 2018 China Talent Flow Report. Based on Zhaopin's online recruitment data, the report identified major trends in the flow of talent among cities, sectors and occupations.
Spring is the most active season in China's labor market, when both job seekers and job vacancies surge. Zhaopin analyzed the data from its online recruitment platform and identified talent flow trends in China, which are a valuable reference for job seekers, recruiters and government policy makers.
Spring 2018 China Talent Flow Report highlights:
- Emerging first-tier cities were more attractive to job seekers in third-tier cities and below. About 23.4% of job seekers in third-tier cities favored jobs in emerging first-tier cities, while the percentage was 33.6% for job seekers in fourth-tier cities, and 38.8% in fifth-tier cities.
- While first-tier cities continued to attract talent from neighboring areas, they were becoming a key source of talent outflow to other parts of the country.
- There was an outflow of professionals from real estate to other sectors. All of the top 10 sectors with the most job vacancies in the first quarter of 2018 drew from the real estate sector as a major source of talent.
- Talent from the internet/e-commerce sector was welcomed by other sectors as the internet transforms traditional industries.
- While it is relatively easy to move across sectors, it is more difficult to change occupations for job seekers, as occupations have more barriers to entry in terms of required skills and experience.
- Male job seekers dominated positions with monthly salaries of RMB6,000 and above. More female job seekers applied for positions with relatively low pay.
- Employees from private companies were a major source of talent for other types of companies.
Bigger cities more attractive to talent than smaller cities
Bigger cities were more attractive to job seekers than smaller cities, Zhaopin found. The ability to attract talent decreases as city-size declines. About 87.6% of job seekers in first-tier cities preferred positions in first-tier cities, while only 19% of job seekers in fifth-tier cities wanted to stay in their cities.
Emerging first-tier cities were more attractive to job seekers in third-tier cities and below. About 23.4% of job seekers in third-tier cities favored jobs in emerging first-tier cities, while the percentage was 33.6% for job seekers in fourth-tier cities, and 38.8% in fifth-tier cities.
While first-tier cities continued to attract talent from neighboring areas, they were becoming a key source of talent outflow to other parts of the country. As a major talent hub, Beijing saw its talent outflowing to north, northeast, northwest and even southwest of China.
| Breakdown of job seekers by cities |
||||||
| City |
From first- |
From emerging first |
From |
From third- |
From fourth- |
From fifth- |
| First-tier cities |
87.6% |
7.1% |
3.3% |
1.3% |
0.6% |
0.1% |
| Emerging first-tier cities |
7.8% |
87.5% |
2.1% |
1.3% |
1.0% |
0.3% |
| Second-tier cities |
10.8% |
8.4% |
77.6% |
1.8% |
0.9% |
0.5% |
| Third-tier cities |
21.8% |
23.4% |
7.6% |
45.6% |
1.1% |
0.5% |
| Fourth-tier cities |
20.1% |
33.6% |
11.6% |
2.3% |
31.8% |
0.6% |
| Fifth-tier cities |
18.8% |
38.8% |
16.9% |
5.0% |
1.4% |
19.0% |
Talent moving across sectors
There was an outflow of professionals from real estate to other sectors. All of the top 10 sectors with the most job vacancies in the first quarter of 2018 drew from the real estate sector as a major source of talent.
Talent from the internet/e-commerce sector was welcomed by other sectors as the internet transforms traditional industries.
| Talent source for top ten sectors with most job demand in first quarter 2018 |
||||||
| Job |
Sector |
Top 1 talent |
Top 2 talent source |
Top 3 talent source |
Top 4 talent source |
Top 5 talent source |
| 1 |
Internet/e- |
Internet/e-commerce
17.7% |
Real 6.8% |
Computer software
|
Education/training/co
|
Funds/securities/futur
|
| 2 |
Real estate |
Real estate 55.0% |
Home 2.9% |
Internet/e-commerce
|
Processing and
|
Professional
|
| 3 |
Education/tra |
Education/training/c
24.9% |
Internet/e-commerce
7.9% |
Real
|
Hotel/catering
|
Media/publishing/film
|
| 4 |
Computer |
Computer software
|
Internet/e-commerce
|
IT services 9.9% |
Real
|
Electronics/semicond
|
| 5 |
Funds/securi |
Funds/securities/futu
18.9% |
Real 9.3% |
Internet/e-commerce
|
Professional 5.0% |
Banking
|
| 6 |
Professional |
Real 12.1% |
Professional 8.1% |
Internet/e-commerce
|
Education/training/co
|
Funds/securities/futur
|
| 7 |
IT services |
Internet/e-commerce
|
Computer software
|
IT services
|
Real 7.2% |
Communications/telec
|
| 8 |
Trade/export |
Trade/export and import 9.7% |
Real 7.9% |
Internet/e-commerce
|
Processing and
|
FMCG (food, drinks,
|
| 9 |
Medicine/biol |
Medicine/biological
24.2% |
Real 6.2% |
Medical
|
FMCG (food, drinks,
|
Medical
|
| 10 |
FMCG (food, |
FMCG (food, drinks, 30.6% |
Internet/e-commerce
|
Real 5.5% |
Retail/wholesale
|
Processing and
|
While it was relatively easy to move across sectors, it was more difficult to change occupations for job seekers, Zhaopin found. Occupations have more barriers to entry in terms of required skills and experience.
More female seeking low-pay jobs
Female job seekers were more interested in sectors such as education/training/college, medical care/nursing/beauty/healthcare/health services, and government/non-profit organizations.
| Top 10 sectors with most female job seekers in spring 2018 |
|||
| Ranking |
Sector |
Female |
Male |
| 1 |
Education/training/college |
65.0% |
35.0% |
| 2 |
Medical |
63.9% |
36.1% |
| 3 |
Government/non-profit organizations |
57.9% |
42.1% |
| 4 |
Professional Services/consulting (finance and |
57.8% |
42.2% |
| 5 |
Trade/export and import |
55.8% |
44.2% |
| 6 |
Tourism/vacation |
55.7% |
44.3% |
| 7 |
Advertising/exhibition/public relations |
55.5% |
44.5% |
| 8 |
Gifts/toys/arts & crafts/collectibles/luxury |
55.0% |
45.0% |
| 9 |
Outsourcing service |
54.8% |
45.2% |
| 10 |
Media/publishing/film and television/cultural |
54.8% |
45.2% |
For occupations, female job seekers preferred finance/auditing/tax, hospital/medical care/nursing, and healthcare/beauty/hairdressing/bodybuilding.
| Top 10 occupations with most female job seekers in spring 2018 |
|||
| Ranking |
Sector |
Female |
Male |
| 1 |
Finance/auditing/tax |
84.4% |
15.6% |
| 2 |
Hospital/medical care/nursing |
79.0% |
21.0% |
| 3 |
Healthcare/beauty/hairdressing/bodybuilding |
75.7% |
24.3% |
| 4 |
Administration/logistics/secretary |
75.5% |
24.5% |
| 5 |
Human resources |
73.4% |
26.6% |
| 6 |
Education/training |
68.1% |
31.9% |
| 7 |
Sales/business administration |
67.6% |
32.4% |
| 8 |
Translation (oral and written) |
67.4% |
32.6% |
| 9 |
Tourism/vacation/entry and exit services |
63.9% |
36.1% |
| 10 |
Part-time job/temporary |
62.5% |
37.5% |
In terms of salaries, male job seekers dominated positions with monthly salaries of RMB6,000 and above. More female job seekers applied for positions with relatively low pay.
| Breakdown of positions by monthly salaries in spring 2018 |
||
| Salary (RMB) |
Male applicants |
Female applicants |
| Above 50,000 |
82.9% |
17.1% |
| 35,001 to 50,000 |
80.7% |
19.3% |
| 25,001 to 35,000 |
77.0% |
23.0% |
| 15,001 to 25,000 |
75.2% |
24.8% |
| 10,001 to 15,000 |
71.9% |
28.1% |
| 8,001 to 10,000 |
67.4% |
32.6% |
| 6,001 to 8,000 |
61.0% |
39.0% |
| 4,001 to 6,000 |
48.9% |
51.1% |
| 2,001 to 4,000 |
35.8% |
64.2% |
| Below 2,000 |
53.4% |
46.6% |
Most job seekers looking for better pay
The majority of job seekers were applying for positions with better pay than their current level. However, more than 20% of job seekers, who currently made RMB50,000 or more per month, were applying for position with salary between RMB10,001 to RMB15,000. Most of them had been working for startups, which had inflated salaries to attract talent. These professionals have had to reset their expectations and be more reasonable with salary expectations.
| Breakdown of positions by salaries in spring 2018 |
||||||||||
| Current salaries of job seekers (RMB) |
||||||||||
| Salaries |
Below |
2,001 to |
4,001 to |
6,001 to |
8,001 to |
10,001 to |
15,001 to |
25,001 to |
35,001 to |
Above |
| Below |
1.7% |
0.7% |
0.5% |
0.5% |
0.5% |
0.6% |
0.7% |
0.3% |
0.5% |
0.8% |
| 2,001 to |
21.7% |
23.6% |
11.0% |
4.2% |
2.4% |
1.1% |
0.8% |
0.3% |
0.9% |
1.6% |
| 4,001 to |
38.5% |
42.7% |
37.3% |
21.7% |
12.3% |
6.3% |
3.4% |
1.6% |
4.1% |
9.4% |
| 6,001 to |
18.1% |
19.0% |
27.1% |
28.4% |
21.1% |
12.2% |
6.1% |
3.1% |
3.7% |
13.3% |
| 8,001 to |
8.6% |
7.2% |
12.3% |
20.2% |
21.4% |
16.1% |
8.7% |
4.7% |
4.8% |
9.2% |
| 10,001 to |
7.3% |
5.2% |
9.1% |
18.6% |
29.4% |
34.6% |
26.1% |
16.5% |
13.9% |
20.4% |
| 15,001 to |
2.4% |
1.2% |
2.1% |
4.8% |
9.7% |
20.4% |
27.1% |
23.7% |
17.6% |
11.0% |
| 25,001 to |
1.1% |
0.3% |
0.4% |
1.0% |
2.3% |
6.2% |
16.7% |
24.6% |
17.6% |
11.8% |
| 35,001 to |
0.4% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.3% |
0.7% |
1.8% |
7.4% |
17.1% |
23.1% |
11.8% |
| Above |
0.2% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.2% |
0.3% |
0.7% |
3.1% |
8.2% |
13.7% |
10.8% |
Private companies are a key force in China's labor market, and employees from private companies were a major source of talent for other type of companies.
| Breakdown of job seekers by type of companies |
||||||
| Company |
From state- |
From joint |
From private |
From public |
From public |
From |
| State-owned enterprises |
22.1% |
5.2% |
55.8% |
8.0% |
2.5% |
6.4% |
| Joint ventures |
12.0% |
7.1% |
61.6% |
7.7% |
1.6% |
10.0% |
| Private companies |
11.1% |
5.9% |
67.6% |
7.2% |
1.5% |
6.7% |
| Public companies |
14.0% |
5.7% |
62.5% |
8.8% |
1.7% |
7.4% |
| Public institutions |
22.4% |
5.6% |
50.8% |
9.0% |
5.8% |
6.4% |
| Wholly foreign-owned |
11.9% |
6.9% |
56.0% |
8.3% |
1.5% |
15.4% |
For more information, please contact:
Zhaopin Limited
Ms. Serena Sun
[email protected]
ICR Beijing
Mr. Edmond Lococo
Phone: +86 10 6583-7510
[email protected]
SOURCE Zhaopin Limited
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