Zhaopin: Women Earn 22% Less than Men in China
BEIJING, March 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhaopin Limited ("Zhaopin" or the "Company"), a leading career platform in China focused on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycle, released its "2018 Report on the Current Situation of Chinese Women in the Workplace." The report found that the average monthly salary for women was 22% lower than men in China.
Zhaopin conducted its annual survey on women in the workplace to understand the situation and challenge for women in their employment opportunities and career path and development. More than 102,400 people participated in the survey this year.
Highlights of Zhaopin 2018 survey on women in the workplace:
- The average monthly salary for women was 22% lower than men in China.
- For entry-level and low-level positions, the salary gap between women and men was quite small. As more men were promoted to higher level positions, the income gap between women and men widened.
- About 11.5% of women in China lost promotion opportunities due to pregnancy.
- Women devoted 15% more time to families than men, and selected "convenient to go to work" as the most important factor when evaluating job opportunities.
- Women contributed about 35% of their family incomes, compared with 51% from men.
- In evaluating successful women, women believed that "achievement in her professional field" was the most important factor, while men saw a successful woman as "having her own attitude and not following others".
Income gap: women earn 22% less than men
Zhaopin's survey found that the average monthly salary for women was 22% lower than men. For entry-level and low-level positions, the salary gap between women and men was quite small. However, as more men were promoted to higher level positions, the income gap between women and men widened.
| Comparison of average monthly salary (RMB) |
||
| Average for low-level positions |
Overall average |
|
| Mem |
5,752 |
8,006 |
| Women |
5,530 |
6,589 |
| Gap (men vs. women) |
4% |
22% |
The below breakdown of positions showed that more men than women were in higher level positions in the workplace, indicating that men were more likely to be promoted with higher salaries.
| Breakdown of positions |
||
| Women |
Men |
|
| Low-level staff |
67.1% |
52.3% |
| Junior managers |
19.6% |
25.9% |
| Mid-level managers |
11.6% |
17.9% |
| Senior-level managers |
1.2% |
3.4% |
| Others |
0.4% |
0.5% |
As to barriers for promotion, both women and men faced key challenges, such as "limited promotion opportunities offered by companies" and "lack of competence and experience". However, about 11.5% of women lost promotion opportunities due to pregnancy.
| Key barriers to promotions |
||
| Women |
Men |
|
| Limited promotion opportunities offered |
49.2% |
53.2% |
| Lack of competence and experience |
47.2% |
45.8% |
| Competition among coworkers with |
24.4% |
27.1% |
| Based on seniority, instead of |
15.1% |
25.4% |
| Not appreciated by manager |
13.6% |
15.8% |
| Had to take care of family and could not |
11.5% |
10.0% |
| Lost promotion opportunity due to |
11.5% |
1.8% |
| Cronyism |
10.7% |
16.7% |
| Gender discrimination |
4.5% |
0.3% |
| Others |
4.5% |
4.1% |
Compared with men, more women in the workplace felt that they had an unclear career path, or lack of professional guidance in their career development. Women were also less confident in themselves than men at work.
| Key challenges in the workplace |
||
| Women |
Men |
|
| Unclear career path without direction |
45.4% |
38.2% |
| Lack of professional guidance and support |
34.0% |
27.7% |
| Difficulty in career transition |
28.3% |
30.9% |
| Career burnout |
28.0% |
22.8% |
| Lack of resources/relationship |
24.9% |
31.5% |
| Lack of chance and time to improve skills |
24.5% |
27.3% |
| Lack of self confidence |
21.6% |
14.3% |
| Imbalance between work and life |
20.8% |
26.2% |
| No hope for promotions |
19.7% |
21.5% |
| Need to keep learning with the fast-change workplace |
19.5% |
23.6% |
| Others |
1.4% |
1.4% |
Women devoting more time to families
Based on Zhaopin's survey, men spent 9% more time at work than women, while women devoted 15% more time to families than men.
| Time spent on work and family |
|||
| Women |
Men |
Gap (men vs. women) |
|
| Weekly working hours |
47.0 |
51.3 |
9% |
| Daily time spent for family |
2.0 |
1.7 |
-15% |
After marriage, women tended to spend more time on families than men, even though their working hours remained largely unchanged.
| Time spent on work and family before marriage |
|||
| Unmarried |
Unmarried |
Gap (men vs. women) |
|
| Weekly working hours |
47.6 |
52.0 |
9% |
| Daily time spent for family |
1.7 |
1.5 |
-8% |
| Time spent on work and family after marriage |
|||
| Married women |
Married men |
Gap (men vs. women) |
|
| Weekly working hours |
46.1 |
50.4 |
9% |
| Daily time spent for family |
2.6 |
2.0 |
-22% |
When selecting job opportunities, the most important factor for women was "convenient to go to work", while men gave priority to "opportunity to grow".
| Key factors in selecting jobs |
||
| Women |
Men |
|
| Convenient to go to work |
35.9% |
21.9% |
| Opportunity to grow |
31.4% |
34.2% |
| Flexibility at work |
22.1% |
26.3% |
| Good working environment |
20.8% |
17.9% |
| High salary |
19.9% |
23.9% |
| Work with interest |
19.1% |
20.3% |
| Company with reputation |
17.5% |
19.9% |
| Company with promising prospect |
15.6% |
19.3% |
| Good welfare |
14.6% |
13.0% |
| Others |
9.8% |
10.3% |
Before getting married, "convenient to go to work" and "opportunity to grow" were almost equally important for women. However, after marriage, "convenient to go to work" become more important for women and they normally cared less about "opportunity to grow".
| Key factors in selecting jobs (unmarried vs. married) |
||
| Unmarried |
Married |
|
| Convenient to go to work |
34.3% |
38.1% |
| Opportunity to grow |
34.6% |
26.8% |
| Flexibility at work |
16.7% |
24.6% |
| Good working environment |
19.9% |
22.2% |
| High salary |
22.1% |
22.0% |
| Work with interest |
18.9% |
19.2% |
| Company with reputation |
13.1% |
19.2% |
| Company with promising prospect |
12.9% |
17.0% |
| Good welfare |
17.9% |
16.8% |
| Others |
11.0% |
8.1% |
According to Zhaopin's survey, women contributed about 35% of their family incomes, compared with 51% contributed by men.
| Contribution of family income |
||
| Women |
Men |
|
| Contribution percentage |
35% |
51% |
Women have higher aspirations to improve themselves at work
Zhaopin found that women have greater aspirations to improve themselves through career development than men, giving higher priority to "further improve personal value", "take more challenging work" and "gain clear career path".
| Future career development priorities |
||
| Women |
Men |
|
| Further improve personal value |
58.6% |
54.3% |
| Take more challenging work |
44.4% |
41.1% |
| Gain clear career path |
39.0% |
31.5% |
| Extend relations and accumulate resources |
28.1% |
32.8% |
| Realize financial freedom |
26.7% |
21.1% |
| Promote to manager/leader |
24.3% |
30.6% |
| Give more priority to family |
19.7% |
19.6% |
| Improve skills to become an expert |
12.5% |
23.1% |
| Become a freelancer |
8.1% |
7.4% |
| Others |
0.5% |
0.6% |
In evaluating successful women, women believed that "achievement in her professional field" was the most important factor, while men saw a successful woman as "having her own attitude and not following others".
| Characteristics of Successful Women |
||
| Women |
Men |
|
| Achievement in her professional field |
52.0% |
32.0% |
| Having her own attitude in lives |
49.3% |
46.3% |
| Respectful personality and charisma |
44.1% |
43.3% |
| Happy family life |
39.3% |
37.9% |
| Loving herself and caring about others |
28.3% |
39.3% |
| Social influence/status |
23.5% |
17.6% |
| Influencing others with positive values |
20.1% |
26.6% |
| Responsibility and empathy |
16.0% |
20.4% |
| Married with an excellent partner |
5.4% |
5.9% |
| Others |
0.3% |
0.3% |
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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