Beijing/Guangzhou/Shanghai, August 12, 2024: The German Chamber of Commerce in China has published the 17th edition of the Labor Market & Salary Report, a comprehensive benchmark for wages of German companies in China. “The ongoing trend of wage growth moderation is emblematic of the challenges that German companies are facing in the market” says Moritz Berrenberg, Chairperson of the Board of the German Chamber of Commerce in South & Southwest China. He adds: “The prospect of even smaller salary increases in 2025 are indicative of the relatively low level of business confidence among German companies as they head into the coming year.”
Key findings:
- Expected salary growth for 2025 below four percent: German companies operating in China are anticipating a salary growth of 3.8% for the year 2025, 0.7 percentage points below the projection of 4.5% for 2024.
- Effective salary increase continues to decline: In 2024, German companies in China raised salaries by 3.9% across all industries, a steep decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the previous year. This marks the lowest value since the question was first asked in 2019. Notably, no industry exceeded its projected salary increases.
- Share of companies employing foreigners hits all-time low: The percentage of German companies employing foreigners in 2024 reached an all-time low of 65%, a decrease of 11.2 percentage points from pre-pandemic levels. While bigger companies are more likely to employ foreigners (81%), only 43.6% of companies with less than 50 employees do so, a decrease of 18.8 percentage points compared to 2019.
- Higher compensation remains the primary reason for replacement of foreign workers: 68.5% of German companies name differences in compensation as the main reason for replacing foreign employees, an increase of 6.2 percentage points from the previous year.
More HR data of German companies in China:
- Average tenure: 6 years
- Sick leave per year: 3.8 days
- Annual leave per year: 12.6 days
- Annual employee turnover: 8%
To access the member-exclusive, full report, please visit the download area of the Member Directory. A short version of the survey can be downloaded here.
Media Contact
Carina Mingle
Head of Media Relations &
Corporate Communications
+86-10-6539-6670