Whether you’re a small business owner or the manager of a multinational, at some point you will probably hire Chinese staffers. Knowing the ins and outs of hiring Chinese assistants or administrative workers can be difficult. In this guide we will discuss three common questions that often arise when foreigners are faced with hiring Chinese workers – how qualified do they need to be, how much should you pay, what will be expected of me as a boss?

Qualifications
When hiring Chinese employees for any office job the employer should look for a bachelor’s degree at minimum. A bachelor’s degree in Chinese is called běnkē (本科), and is the standard required for any “white collar” work. Administrative work is usually considered an entry level position in China, and most often administrative workers are female. Chinese bosses may even ask for a certain age range, say 21-25, or specify that the candidates should be male or female. If you don’t feel comfortable setting these sorts of requirements, that’s fine, but know that if you wish to set such requirements, doing so is within the bounds of what is socially and culturally appropriate in China. If your position requires interaction with foreigners – yourself included – you should also look for someone with English ability, but keep in mind that Chinese people with good English skills usually expect to earn a higher salary than those without. In order to judge a candidate’s English ability it is best you interview them yourself, in English, but if you are unable to do so you can ask for candidates to provide certificates. Chinese employers often ask for potential hires to provide their CET or TEM scores as proof of English ability. CET is the College English Test and all Chinese graduates will have passed either band 4 or band 6, 6 being the higher band. TEM is the Test for English Majors and is divided into band 4 and band 8. Band 8 is the highest level and is quite difficult. If you are requiring only a basic English ability then asking for candidates to provide their test results should be sufficient. If you are requiring high level English proficiency, then it is truly best to conduct the interview yourself or to have another native speaker evaluate the candidate’s English ability.

Salary
Probably the biggest question up for debate among those hiring Chinese staffers is how much to pay them? Keeping in mind that turnover is extremely high in entry level positions (this is an actual phenomenon, and a big issue for Chinese managers, called “tiao cao,” which means repeatedly changing jobs, “jumping” from one job to the next), while you might feel that local salary standards are much too low to possibly survive on, and be inclined to pay more than what the market dictates, it is advisable to reign in those impulses and pay your employees what other companies are paying workers of similar ability and experience. For an entry level position for a recent graduate in most big cities like Beijing, the average salary seems to hover around 3000RMB a month for a full time position. Outside of the big three cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, however, you can expect salaries to be much lower, sometimes less than 2000RMB a month. When deciding how much to pay you should also consider what the market generally pays in your area, whether or not the job is requiring extra skills above and beyond what is possessed the average graduate (are you requiring a second language, specialized certifications, a technical skill? All could potentially raise the stakes a bit), and finally, what other sorts of benefits will be included. It is not uncommon, for instance, for manual labor and service industry jobs to include room and board, but this is not as common in the white collar world. However, you can sweeten the deal for potential employees in other ways by offering benefits – insurance, a housing stipend, kickbacks or commissions, a transportation allowance – these are all commonly used in China to give employees a little something extra without paying a salary above what the market dictates.

Expectations and obligations
While China does have a labour law, it is rarely enforced. Chinese workers, especially lower rung office workers, are accustomed to a culture where overtime is mandatory and unpaid. Younger Chinese staffers will often work 50-60 hour weeks and would never dream of turning down a boss’ request to come in on the weekends. Your Chinese workers, especially if they are young and unmarried, will want to see their company as a sort of a family, and Chinese bosses go to great lengths to foster a sense of community and obligation among workers. If you want to run your office according to Chinese office culture, then hosting dinners, planning office excursions, and giving out gifts and bonuses around the holidays are a must. If a Chinese boss does not occasionally throw some freebies out to his staffers they might not say anything outright, but there will be grumbling when, say mid-Autumn festival rolls around and your employees are left empty handed when friends start comparing moon cakes! Likewise it is customary to give bonuses at Chinese New Year, the generosity of the bonus depending on the seniority of the employee. You will also need to make sure that your workers are given the obligatory Chinese holidays – while you may want to take a break at Christmas, your Chinese employees will expect to be given at least a week at Chinese New Year. As for formalized benefits, what is offered varies widely from company to company, but you should consider offering at least minimal healthcare benefits through a local provider.
 

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