Editor’s note: The power of China’s workforce is extraordinary, and people often comment on the long hours and hard work that Chinese people put in at work. It is on the back of this workforce that China’s rapid development rests. And while this may cause some to puff up their chests with pride, a recent Gallup poll suggests that job satisfaction in China is not high. In this translated article, experts try to give a more discerning eye to explain how China can be described as having “the most undedicated employees in all of Asia.”
China accounts for 13% of the world’s workforce and yet it seems only 6% of them are dedicated to their jobs. Gallup recently published its 2011-2012 report on the dedication to work for employees across the world and their findings show that the countries with the highest numbers of dedicated workers are Panama, Costa Rica, and the United States of America. China, conversely, did very poorly.
The Gallup report focused on workers from 142 countries and territories for the time period from 2011 until 2012. Participants answered 12 questions about their jobs and their feeling towards it. Level of dedication was divided into three categories: ‘dedicated’, ‘not concerned’ and ‘slowing down work productivity with their negative impact’. The poll also asked about education levels, recognition from seniors, and whether or not they had friends within the company.
The study asserts that employees dedicated to their work will bring profit and innovation to their company while employees that slow down work productivity will negatively impact upon the performance of dedicated employees.
Source: Robert S. Donovan
The world’s most dedicated vs. the least dedicated
According to the study, out of all 142 countries and territories of the world, only 13% of all employees world-wide are dedicated to their jobs, 63% are generally not concerned, and 24% slow down work productivity with their negative impact. The degree of dedication towards work varies from region to region.
The three countries with employees with the highest dedication to their jobs are Panama (37%), Costa Rica (33%) and the United States of America (30%). It seems employees in eastern China and northern Africa are most averse to working. The three countries with the highest rates of employees slowing down work productivity with their negativity are: Tunisia (54%), Algeria (53%) and Syria (45%).
In East Asia, despite assumptions made about the industriousness and diligence of the workforce, only 6% of the workforce is dedicated to their jobs. The study highlights that China is the major reason for pulling this percentage down, but even if you look at countries individually the numbers aren’t great: dedication to work in Japan and South Korea is only 7% and 11%, respectively.
The situation does not look great for most Western and European countries either. Only 14% of the Western work force is dedicated to their jobs. The study finds that this results from the pressure on the work force to find jobs after the economic crisis.
Chinese office workers are the most undedicated
The Gallop study shows that dedication to work is low across many fields in China. For workers in the ‘high technology and management’ group dedication is only at 8%, for elementary school teachers its at 5%, for retail sales staff and service personnel it is only 4% and the group with the lowest levels of dedication is office workers and secretaries at only 3%.
Chinese companies are often distinguishable by their management style, which is that those at the top “command and control” the rest of the company. In many circumstances these managers lack the ability to encourage their employees. When asked on the Gallup poll, “During work, does your opinion mean anything?” the response from Chinese employees was remarkable low. Only an eighth answered “strongly agree with this statement.” In comparison, a quarter of employees world-wide who gave the same answer to the question. Additionally, only about a half of all Chinese employees have responded by saying their current job is their ideal one.
Expert opinion: “Hard-working” does not equal “dedicated to one’s job”
You will often hear people say that employees in China and Japan as well as other East Asian countries are industrious and diligent at their jobs, so why is it that they have some of the lowest rates for dedication to work? “The results of the study realistically show the attitude displayed by Chinese job-seekers,” said Wei Shujuan, an assistant professor at the Philosophy and Society Center at the University of Lanzhou. He believes that being diligent is not the same as being dedicated to one’s job. Dedication is about the level of respect one has towards their work. “If one treats one’s job solely as the metaphor of a rice bowl, then it’s hard to be dedicated to such an idea,” said Professor Wei.
Wei thinks that dedication will only come when people are able to choose stable jobs that they also love. Using the example of China’s middle-class, he explains that despite this group of people achieving a degree of satisfaction with prosperity, the middle-class will continue to select careers solely upon the salary that they offer, rather than the career itself, and therefore have no loyalty to it.
In comparison, while the salaries of citizens in Central America are not necessarily high, they tend to be much happier with their jobs, as they focus more on the direction of their career. The work put into it, and the reward they get, match up better and thus give employees a sense of contentment rather than frustration.
Fang Changchun, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Nanjing, thinks that there is a “strong possibility” that the results of the poll are true. Fang states that pressure to find work in East Asia is immense and only a few have the chance to choose their careers. Without this autonomy many do not feel the need to invest in their careers and so are left with a low opinion of their work.
Source: news.163.com
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Keywords: job satisfaction in China Chinese workforce Chinese employees are the most undedicated
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It makes for cocky bosses who believe the plebs is nothing more than a resource like plastic. Something to use in the process. http://www.jamespersonaltailor.co.uk is very nice site for making cloth.
Dec 15, 2013 23:20 Report Abuse
I don't blame employees here. And I suppose by extension most employees in the world. It just seems everything is a tad more cynical in China. The easiest thing to do here when facing a slowdown is to fire people. When things pick up there are millions waiting to jump aboard again. It makes for cocky bosses who believe the plebs is nothing more than a resource like plastic. Something to use in the process. But in a weird way very little actual work is done but a lot of time is wasted. But why focus on productivity, that costs money and equips the little people with skills. It's a lot safer to just hire four people to do the job of one. If I had to describe China in one word it would be cynical.
Dec 02, 2013 09:29 Report Abuse
This is a legacy from the 100% communism era, when private companies were never heard of. Then, it was the state's (ie government) responsibity to allocate jobs because every "firm" (unit) was state-owned. We cannot, however, ignore the emergence of the new, entrepreneurs comprised, middle class. Typically, they were educated to high school level, been working as robots in factories for 5-6 years in the late 1990s/early 2000s, shrewdly (and silently) acquired the trade's necessary knowhow, then "fired their boss" and started their own business. These were the slaves who jumped ship. They continue to work like slaves, except now they are working for themselves. In their late 30s/early 40s, they typically own self-paid apartment(s) and a decent car. It should be a beautiful story, the emergence of the middle class if not for the fact that plenty in this sector are also the most arrogant and obnoxious beings on this planet. Overall, the article is correct, the majority are robots rotting alway their life, some under this kind of bosses. With a few shrewdly thinking the same thing their bosses were thinking 10-15 years ago, in secret of course. And their boss is smiling while driving his Mercede, thinking, "I know what you are up to the second you wiggle your tail, you must be dreaming if I trust you...and repeat my old boss's mistake of trusting me!", as the young "ratwolf" scan high and low, absorb, plan and think, "now that I know how to find customers, where the suppliers are, and how to assemble that 8 GB USB at USD 1.5, the only thing I need is save a bit more cash, and then fire that @#$@$ boss! Creativity? To hell with it. I would rather be called the uncreative/unimaginative one as I drive my Mercede, and you keep experimenting your longevity pills, and be slaughtered within months you launch it, by imitators like me! Now who is the moron?..lol..." Fun game? Wanna play? Get incarnated in mainland China and join the 1.3+ billion rat/wolf/fox/viper grand race! Those who drive in China know what these creatures are like....
Nov 29, 2013 17:33 Report Abuse
It's called the 'China Employment Plan'. 1. Employ more people than needed for the task at hand. 2. Disperse work over 10 people that otherwise 1 could handle. 3. Give them a place to go from 9-5. 4. Create inefficiencies and excess paper work so there are tasks to delegate to the plethora of bodies occupying office space. 5. Keep the unemployment rate down. It's working so far
Nov 27, 2013 11:22 Report Abuse
From that perspective, a lot of nonsense jobs exist in the west, also to keep people off the streets. An employee cooped up in an office earning a passable salary is one less person on the streets with time to think of (possibly criminal) activities. They're copying the West's plan for building a safe society, and the result is their streets are even safer than ours. I don't agree with the concept, but blaming it on the Chinese is unfair, since they didn't invent it. It's all part of the tricks that the rich play to prevent unrest and economic breakdown. Compare it to when you've won at monopoloy, but instead of starting over with a more fun game, you keep handing out cash to the other players so everyone keeps playing.
Nov 27, 2013 20:43 Report Abuse
You are not totally off base. In this day and age, it is quite easy to point somewhere else and say 'it's been done before'. However, as this study points out, being burdened with doing remedial seemingly pointless redundant tasks has had a negative effect on the average office worker (work ethic, motivation). This is due to what I articulated in my original comment (be it a little tongue and cheek). The inefficiencies and excess paper work here are, in my experience, unprecedented when doing business.
Nov 28, 2013 11:19 Report Abuse
Perhaps Chinese are most scared of their own youths, who are less thoroughly indoctrinated, often with access to foreign information sources, if only through translation. Maybe that's why they are forced to keep them in schools for such unreasonable hours, killing their childhood, and their spirit of curiosity. As for university, hormones do a better job of distracting most teenagers!
Nov 28, 2013 11:44 Report Abuse
Perhaps (this could be another study). Like with many things in China, it seems to the be the land of contradictions. They want their children to go to western Universities, yet they are reducing the importance of English in their studies. They want their youths to be competitive on an international level, yet they fear their youths being inundated with foreign information and culture. As I'm sure you know there is never a simple answer here.
Nov 28, 2013 12:03 Report Abuse
so many people are given nonsense jobs. so many family members are bribed into a position at the gov't to ensure their family's position. but they are neither competent, nor have any meaningful responsibilities. the "dedicated" ones make up extra bureaucratic rules to profit finacially, but also to give themselves a sense of relevance. and even private companies are run like a bloated bureaucracy. of the 20 staff working in the english school where i work, 5 are actual teaching staff. the rest is bloated management and marketing, taking up massive office space for their egos, while the teachers are given cubicles.
Nov 26, 2013 14:27 Report Abuse
I guess that might be a reason we have so many restaurants and hairdressers. If it's difficult to gain any satisfaction or get motivated working for a boss then become a boss yourself. In my observations and experience, you get pretty good service going to the little family run restaurant but get what I would term miserable service at the bigger places where the employee doesn't give a stuff. If you look at some of the jobs people have here it's not real hard to see why they would lack loyalty and diligence. There was a fancy building construction going on not far from where I live and each time I passed in a taxi there was a fully uniformed red guard standing rigidly at attention in a little gazebo - like hut at the front. He was there at 8am and still there at 5pm and in summer it was sweltering and in winter it was freezing. I have no idea why he was there as the place he was standing was far removed from the main construction. Devoted? Dedicated? Diligent? Maybe. Stupid? Definitely! Wonder what was going through his mind over 9 or 10 hours of mind numbing guard work?
Nov 26, 2013 13:00 Report Abuse
"Wonder what was going through his mind over 9 or 10 hours of mind numbing guard work?" If he was like most guards in China... not a whole lot.
Dec 02, 2013 06:10 Report Abuse
when i thought of "hard working" and china i had to laugh. they work as hard as i do on vacation. seriously one problem is that many people are employed just to sit around the whole day so the company earns money from the quotes... how happy would you be if you know that your job is completly useless?
Nov 26, 2013 08:58 Report Abuse
Likewise, even as a foreigner, it has been my experience that many employers are not dedicated to their workers. They exploit them given the opportunity. In the English education field, I've found that most employers expect and almost encourage turnover. They take an attitude towards the employee of, "You do this for a low wage or I'll find someone else to take you place." Of course many often seem to only value a warm body occupying a position; not a qualified or experienced worker. So, dedication works both ways in my Western way of thinking.
Nov 26, 2013 07:00 Report Abuse
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