Zhaopin: Nearly 80% of China White Collars Trying to Switch Jobs

BEIJING, Feb. 27, 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 through their career lifecycle, found in its spring 2017 survey that the confidence of white-collar workers rebounded to the highest since 2014, and nearly 80% were trying to seek new jobs.

Spring is traditionally the most active season for job-hopping in China after the Chinese New Year holiday. Zhaopin conducted its spring research and survey in February 2017 to gauge white-collar workers' confidence in their careers and their intentions to change jobs. More than 20,500 white collars participated in this nationwide survey.

Highlights of Zhaopin survey for spring 2017:

• The confidence of white-collar workers in their career opportunities rebounded to 3.95, compared with 3.26 in spring 2016. The confidence index is measured from 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest.
• With limited work experience, employees born in the 1990s were the least confident in their career options, with an index of 3.90, compared with 4.16 for workers born in 1960s.
• Nearly 80% of white-collar workers were taking actions to seek new jobs in the spring of 2017.
• The most important reason for job-hopping was salary, with 49% of white-collar workers considering to change jobs because of unsatisfactory pay.
• Employees born in the 1990s were the most active job-hoppers, with 77.8% taking actions, followed by 76.8% for workers born in 1970s.

Confidence reached highest since 2014

White-collar workers' confidence in their career choices has been on a rollercoaster ride over the past three years. After reaching 3.72 in the spring of 2015, the confidence of white-collar workers tumbled to 3.26 in the spring of 2016 as the overall economic growth slowed down. With the economy stabilizing, the confidence of white-collar workers rebounded to 3.95 in the spring of 2017, setting a new high since 2014. The confidence index is measured from 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest.

This spring, 69.7% of white collar workers were confident or very confident in their career options, while only 8.6% had low or no confidence.

Employees in joint ventures had the highest confidence, with an index of 4.04 in the survey, followed by 3.96 for private companies and wholly foreign-owned enterprises (including HK, Macao and Taiwan). Workers in public institutions showed the lowest confidence at 3.75.

In terms of demographics, workers born in the 1990s were the least confident in their careers, with an index of 3.90. The older the workers, the more confident they became, the survey found. Employees born in the 1960s were the most confident group, with an index of 4.16.

Yantai (4.14), Guiyang (4.13) and Taiyuan (4.06) were the top three cities with the highest confidence index from white-collar workers. However, the confidence index ranking of first-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, all dropped in the spring of 2017, while the rankings of emerging first-tier cities were edging up.

Compared with the fall of 2016, the confidence of white-collar workers in all sectors improved significantly in the spring of 2017. Employees in IT/telecom/electronics/internet sector and trade/wholesale/retail/leasing/fast-moving consumer goods/durable consumer goods sector were the most confident, with an index of 3.98.

The higher the salaries, the more confident the white collar workers were, according to the survey. Workers with a salary of RMB 15,001 to RMB20,000 per month had the highest confidence index of 4.28.

Nearly 80% of white-collar workers taking actions to seek new jobs

After taking the year-end bonuses, spring is the most active season for job-hopping. This year, nearly 80% of white-collar workers were taking actions to change jobs, the survey found. Among them, 11.7% were in the process of quitting or onboarding, and 65.3% were looking for new opportunities with updated resumes. The other 18.6% of white collar workers indicated intentions to switch jobs. Only 4.4% indicated that they would not consider job-hopping.

The most important reason for job-hopping was salary, according to the survey, with 49% of white-collar workers considering to change jobs because of unsatisfactory pay. Also, 42.6% wanted to quit their jobs due to uncertain prospects of their companies. Promotion limits and welfare packages were also key concerns for white collars to jump boats.

With low confidence in their careers, employees born in the 1990s were the most active job-hoppers, with 77.8% taking actions, followed by 76.8% for workers born in the 1970s.

In terms of sectors, the real estate/construction sector had the highest percentage of job hoppers with 78.6% of employees taking actions to switch jobs. After a booming year for the real estate market, the sector is facing many uncertainties in 2017.

White-collar workers in purchasing, sales, design and operations were more likely to switch jobs as about 80% of employees were taking actions in these occupations.

Yantai (84.1%), Kunming (82.0%) and Shenyang (81.3%) were the top cities with the highest percentage of job-hoppers. Key provincial capital cities, including Changchun, Chengdu, Nanjing and Harbin, also saw high job market mobility as they were attracting more white-collar workers.

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 December 31, 2016, number of registered users as of December 31, 2016 and number of unique customers^[2] for the three months ended December 31, 2016. The Company's over 129.5 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.

For more information, please contact:

Zhaopin Limited 
Ms. Daisy Wang 
Investor Relations
ir@zhaopin.com.cn

ICR Beijing
Mr. Edmond Lococo
Phone: +86 10 6583-7510
Edmond.Lococo@icrinc.com

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SOURCE Zhaopin Limited