Best employers singled out for offering training, development

China's best employers pay more attention to improving their employee's work environment, training and development than most other companies, according to a report on China's 100 best employers released on Tuesday.

The report was based on a survey jointly launched by Peking University's Center for Social Survey and Research and Zhaopin.com, a leading online recruitment platform, at the end of July.

Groups including human resources consultants, current, former and potential employees, and experts and media professionals, rated companies on salaries and welfare, employer image, work environment, management system, training and enterprise culture.

A number of well-known companies in China were listed among the 100 best employers, including Tencent and Baidu in the information technology industry, Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the vehicle industry, and Haier and Hisense in manufacturing.

"Those first-class companies in China have the same characteristic - focusing more on employee's work environment and training system, which, however, won't result in direct economic profit," said Guo Sheng, CEO of Zhaopin.com, "so that shows their respect to employees."

According to the report, nearly 75 percent of surveyed employees were satisfied with the work environment provided by the 100 best employers, compared with more than 65 percent for other companies. They also rated much higher on employer image, management system and salaries.

The report said young employees would consider training and development rather than salary and welfare when looking for a job because they were focused on personal improvement and experience.

Peng Zhiqiang, 23, a Wuhan University graduate student, is looking for an IT job. "For us newcomers to a workplace, training and growth are much more vital than salary because only when you gain necessary skills and ability can you have bright prospects in the company," he said. "Income isn't the key consideration at first."

The survey encompassed 30,854 companies, 76 percent more than last year. Nearly half the 100 best employers were involved in manufacturing, the internet or IT.