55 percent of white-collar professionals expected to receive year-end bonuses

About 55 percent of white-collar professionals will receive year-end bonuses before the Lunar New Year, down from 66.1 percent in the same period last year, according to a report by Zhaopin, an online recruitment platform.  

The report is based on a survey of around 20,000 people from 37 major cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. 

It said that 22.3 percent of white-collar professionals surveyed said their companies did not pay year-end bonuses, while about 15 percent were uncertain whether they would receive bonuses.  

The year-end bonus is not limited to cash and can also include food, tour packages and electronic devices, the report said. About 76 percent of white-collar professionals surveyed said they received cash as bonuses, down from 84.5 percent last year. 

Among the 37 cities surveyed, Beijing claimed top spot with an average bonus of 8,994 yuan ($1,330). Hefei, the capital of Anhui province, came in second, with an average of 8,634 yuan. 

Xu Ming, a 27-year-old engineer working in Hangzhou, hopes to get his year-end bonus by the end of this month. 

"I want the cash most, of course, then I can buy anything I want or save it," Xu said. "The bonus matters a lot to me as it's a reward for my hard work in the past year."