Workers stressed, confused as China cuts salaries in finance sector
www.abc.net.au
Workers speak out about the impact of wage cuts in the finance sector in China, while simultaneous hikes to public sector pay packets leaves many people confused.

As an accountant in China, Ms Wei works in the finance sector where the government has been cutting and capping workers’ pay.

China’s financial sector is led by state-owned banks and institutions, which are ultimately controlled by the government.

Ms Wei’s monthly salary has been reduced from 6,000 yuan to 4,500 yuan and her year-end bonus slashed by more than half.

“They [the government] started to cut everyone’s salary last July. It’s a heavy blow to my life,” Ms Wei said.

  • errer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    197·
    2 days ago

    On the surface capping vulturous financiers to better support teachers, etc sounds like a good thing? Someone explain why this isn’t a good thing.

    • AwesomeLowlander
      141·
      2 days ago

      At least read the except, if you’re not reading the article? The lady is earning 800 USD monthly, and just lost a quarter of it. If anybody’s vulturous it’s not her.

      • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
        75·
        2 days ago

        Do note that it’s not as bad as $800 sounds like to a US citizen: Shanghai is probably the most expensive city in China, and the cost of living there is $613 according to numbeo.com. But that’s a pre-mortgage figure, and obviously a Western site may not be well up-pt-date with current realities.

        • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
          8·
          2 days ago

          my understanding is that you need 1k income to live decent in non tier 1 city, and in tier 1 city, you will need 2k to make worth it vis a vis QoL.

            • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
              5·
              1 day ago

              this comment and comment above are not logically congruent

              1. You posit that her income loss is not too bad because bare min person can live on 613 so her going down to 600 is not that bad
              2. Well obviously if you want a normal life you gonna need that cash money.
              • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
                22·
                1 day ago

                My point was that it’s bad, but not nearly as bad as someone earning $800 a month in the US. I did not articulate that well.

    • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
      9·
      2 days ago

      On Chinese social media, there have also been complaints of pay cuts from people working for government-related employers in the construction, engineering, and media sectors.

      But with no announcements from authorities about salary reductions in those industries, the scale of the impact remains unclear.

      At the same time, China’s government has increased the wages of public service workers.

      I’m not sure what exactly “public service workers” entails, but since the article mentions them being the foundation of government management, I suspect it to mean only the bureaucrats (known in China as “civil servants” 公务员, which literally translates to “public servicing personnel”) got a raise.

    • Deceptichum@quokk.auMEnglish
      101·
      2 days ago

      This isn’t stopping those at the top getting rich off the industry, it’s stopping single mothers from paying their mortgage.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
      7·
      2 days ago

      You are confusing a wage slave with the industry she works for.

      That’s like saying a janitor at bank is now part of the bank owner and operator class.