Expats in China - gone are the days of glam

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country, fatherland).

China has been a popular expat destination for many years, attracting foreigners from all over the world. Not only is China a country where everything seems possible, but it is also the world's fastest growing economy.

A lot of people forget, however, that the word ”expat” today has few similarities to what it once meant in China.

The word expat used to be synonymous with premium, and to work in China, people would expect a compensation package - free schooling for their children and maybe a villa at the edge of the city. Nowadays, however, far from every expat package includes free housing and and unlimited amount of flight tickets back home. Fifteen years ago in China, even at a managerial level, there would be the need for an expat. Now around 97 percent of the positions have been localized. Before, maybe 100 percent of those at director level were expats. Now it's just 30 percent.

Foreigners are still seen as expats in China but today's expats must realize that finding a well-paid job in China can be hard, and that the job market is highly competitive. Locals are not only willing to work for a lower salary than most expats, but that they also speak better English than most foreigners speak Mandarin.

Finding a job in China

Shanghai attracts many expats with its glamorous image. (Image: Radio86)Finding a job in China is fairly easy. However, finding a well-paid job, requires a lot of work, not to mention some pretty fierce skills. Long gone are the days when all you needed was a foreign degree, some work experience and basic Mandarin skills. Today's expat society is highly competitive and excellent Mandarin skills is far from enough to score you a good position. Most expats find that they are more likely to have to start working for a local company for a fairly low monthly salary ranging between 5000-15,000 yuan. Unpaid overtime as well as working on weekends are two things that are often expected of employees of local companies.

Local companies and hierarchy

Working for a local company can be challenging in many ways. Most Chinese companies have a hierarchical system where the boss decides everything and show little understanding for individual responsibility and creativity. Taking initiatives, or coming up with new suggestions might not be seen as a good thing at a company, and few local managers approve of their employees doing things without asking for permission.

Unforgivable mistakes

When working in China most foreigners will find that Chinese people are reluctant to tell others, including their managers, if they make a mistake. This has to do with the school system in China, where students are taught that mistakes are unforgivable. In working life, this kind of attitude obviously causes a lot of issues, as small problems easily become big ones when they are left unsolved for a long time. If you are working for a Chinese company be cautious about your work and be aware of the fact that there is still a very stiff attitude towards problem solving in China.