Zhaopin: No Promotion for Nearly 80% of Chinese White-Collar Workers in 2016

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BEIJING, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhaopin Limited (NYSE: ZPIN) ("Zhaopin" or the "Company"), a leading career platform^[1] in China focused on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycles, released its 2016

White-Collar Worker Satisfaction Index Report. The report found that white-collar workers in China were not satisfied with either their work or personal lives in 2016 due to limited promotion opportunities, lack of vacations and disappointing sex life.

Zhaopin conducted the survey to gauge white-collar workers' satisfaction levels with both their work and personal lives in 2016. The satisfaction at work was measured by salary, welfare, training, promotion, and interpersonal relationship. The satisfaction in personal lives was measured by physical well-being, sex life, reading, vacation, family time, and psychological well-being. More than 12,000 white-collar workers participated in the survey.

According to Zhaopin experts, the satisfaction index was affected not only by company operations and macro-economic environment, but also by white-collar workers' expectations. The low satisfaction reflected employees' high expectations for both work and life. The survey results can be a good reference point for employers to improve their talent management strategies and policies.

Key Findings of Zhaopin Report on Satisfaction Index for White-Collar Workers:

• White-collar workers in China had low satisfaction with both their work and personal lives in 2016, with a satisfaction index of 2.33 for work and 2.34 for life (measured from 0 to 5, with 5 as the highest).
• For work, white-collar workers were most dissatisfied with promotion opportunities in 2016, with a satisfaction index reading of 1.86. Nearly 80% of survey respondents did not get a promotion.
• White-collar workers with an average monthly salary of more than RMB25,000 were most satisfied with their jobs (2.82), while workers with a salary below RMB2,000 were least satisfied with their jobs (1.40).
• In their personal lives, white-collar workers were most dissatisfied with their sexual activity level for the fourth consecutive year. More than half of respondents had sex less than once a month in 2016.
• Almost 40% of white-collar workers did not take any vacation in 2016.

Work: Lack of Opportunity for Promotion

Zhaopin found that the work satisfaction index for white-collar workers was 2.33 in 2016. The satisfaction is measured from 0 to 5 with 5 as the highest. The 2016 satisfaction index was slightly higher than 2.28 in 2015, but still remained at a low level.

White-collar workers in China were most dissatisfied with promotion opportunities in 2016, with an index of 1.86, followed by 2.04 for welfare and 2.13 for salary.

According to the Zhaopin survey, almost 80% of white-collar workers did not get a promotion in 2016. Only 15.5% believed promotion was based on personal efforts, while 40.4% attributed promotion to company policies.

Promotion is an important consideration when white-collar workers change their jobs, according to Zhaopin experts. They have high expectations for promotions and salary increases. If they are not promoted in an organization after working for one to two years, most people will consider new job opportunities.

Job Satisfaction Impacted by Income and Experience

Job satisfaction is highly correlated with income level, Zhaopin found. White-collar workers with an average monthly salary of more than RMB25,000 had the highest job satisfaction (2.82), while workers with a salary below RMB2,000 were most dissatisfied with their jobs (1.40).

White-collar workers with more accumulated work experience were more rational with their jobs, and tended to have higher satisfaction. Newly-graduated employees with less than one year experience, disillusioned by reality, had the lowest job satisfaction (2.20).

Among different types of companies, white-collar workers in joint ventures had the highest job satisfaction with an index of 2.62, followed by 2.37 for wholly foreign-owned enterprises (including HK, Macao and Taiwan). Employees at public institutions had the lowest job satisfaction (1.94).

For the 34 cities surveyed by Zhaopin, white-collar workers in some emerging first-tier cities and second-tier cities, including Guiyang, Jinan, Dalian, Foshan, Wuxi and Suzhou, enjoyed high job satisfaction. With fast economic growth, these cities offer better job opportunities, relatively low living costs and less competition and pressure compared with first-tier cities. All four first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen) were not among the top 10 cities in job satisfaction.

Life: Most Dissatisfied with Sex

Zhaopin found that the life satisfaction index for white-collar workers was 2.34 in 2016, only slightly higher than 2.28 in 2015. White-collar workers were most dissatisfied with their sex lives, with an index of 1.67, followed by 2.11 for both vacation and reading.

Sex life had been ranked the lowest in satisfaction by white-collar workers for four consecutive years. More than half of them had sex less than once a month, the survey found. Frequency of sex is not the only factor to evaluate sex quality, but it is a very important factor, said Zhaopin experts.

Satisfaction in sex life was also highly related with income, Zhaopin found in the survey. For employees with monthly salary below RMB2,000, their satisfaction with sex was only 0.88, compared with 2.52 for white-collar workers with monthly salary over RMB25,000.

Almost 40% Had No Vacations in 2016

Most companies offer annual leave and vacation for employees. However, some companies asked employees to take vacations only when they were not busy with work. Some white-collar workers gave up their vacations voluntarily to keep their competitiveness in career development. As a result, almost 40% of white-collar workers did not take any vacation in 2016.

Satisfaction for both vacation and family time was associated with income levels, according to Zhaopin. The lower the salary, the less time was available for vacations or spending with families.

Working overtime had become a routine for many white-collar workers and more than 40% of them had no workout in 2016.

About 35.7% of white-collar workers did not read any books in 2016. Employees born in the 1990s had the lowest satisfaction in reading. They preferred to get information from alternative channels instead of reading. White-collar workers born in the 1970s and 1980s had more need for reading.

About Zhaopin Limited

Zhaopin is a leading career platform in China, focusing on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycle. The Company's zhaopin.com website is the most popular career platform in China as measured by average daily unique visitors in each of the 12 months ended September 30, 2016, number of registered users as of September 30, 2016 and number of unique customers^[2] for the three months ended September 30, 2016. The Company's over 125.2 million registered users include diverse and educated job seekers who are at various stages of their careers and are in demand by employers as a result of the general shortage of skilled and educated workers in China. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016, approximately 36.9 million job postings^[3] were placed on Zhaopin's platform by 509,813 unique customers including multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises and state-owned entities. The quality and quantity of Zhaopin's users and the resumes in the Company's database attract an increasing number of customers. This in turn leads to more users turning to Zhaopin as their primary recruitment and career- related services provider, creating strong network effects and significant entry barriers for potential competitors. For more information, please visit http://www.zhaopin.com.

Safe Harbor Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Zhaopin may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Zhaopin's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: Zhaopin's goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; its ability to retain and grow its user and customer base for its online career platform; the growth of, and trends in, the markets for its services in China; the demand for and market acceptance of its brand and services; competition in its industry in China; its ability to maintain the network infrastructure necessary to operate its website and mobile applications; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the corporate structure, business and industry; and its ability to protect its users' information and adequately address privacy concerns. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and Zhaopin does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

[1] Zhaopin's website is the most popular career platform in China as measured by average daily unique visitors in each of the 12 months ended September 30, 2016, the number of registered users as of September 30, 2016 and the number of unique customers for the three months ended September 30, 2016.

[2] A "unique customer" refers to a customer that purchases the Company's online recruitment services during a specified period. Zhaopin makes adjustments for multiple purchases by the same customer to avoid double counting. Each customer is assigned a unique identification number in the Company's information management system. Affiliates and branches of a given customer may, under certain circumstances, be counted as separate unique customers.

[3] Zhaopin calculates the number of job postings by counting the number of newly placed job postings during each respective period. Job postings that were placed prior to a specified period - even if available during such period - are not counted as job postings for such period. Any particular job posting placed on the Company's website may include more than one job opening or position.

For more information, please contact:

Zhaopin Limited 
Ms. Daisy Wang 
Investor Relations 
[email protected]

ICR Beijing
Mr. Edmond Lococo
Phone: +86 10 6583-7510
[email protected]

SOURCE Zhaopin Limited