Successful human resources work secures production expertise

VDMA members from the plastics and rubber machinery sector in China continue to record robust staff growth. This is the result of the Personnel and Salary Survey 2021, which the VDMA mechanical engineering association has compiled together with Fiducia Executive Search.

It is the fifth survey of this kind within the past ten years. It tracks salary development, recruitment, employee retention and personnel trends in China among the association's member companies.

Respondents report a more mature and independent business in China, and the majority of companies have recovered well from the 2019 crisis. As in previous years, members with less than eight per cent staff turnover (senior staff) performed better than participants in the German Chamber's annual survey.

With an average employee affiliation of six years, member companies also manage to retain production knowledge better than their competitors. This is also based on the respondents' unique strategies to counter high turnover, including individualised employee development plans, among others. While English proficiency has become less of a problem in companies, the biggest challenges in HR remain the recruitment of qualified staff and rising labour costs. Covid-19 had its strongest impact on companies due to the lack of visits from headquarters, which led to a severe lack of technical and management support.

Thaddaeus Mueller, Executive Search Director at Fiducia, said: "Surprisingly, many recruiting plans were still implemented across borders despite the lack of face-to-face meetings with candidates. Companies have realised that they need to react urgently in order to participate in the growth opportunities of the market in 2020 and 2021."

There is still a lack of awareness about the upcoming tax changes on individual income tax for foreigners working in China. While the survey has helped to reduce the information gap, almost two thirds of respondents have still not decided how to react to the new tax rules.

VDMA's Florian Mikulasch added: "One of VDMA's main tasks is to share information and prepare our member companies for changes in their business environment. This is crucial in a country like China, which continues to develop much more dynamically than many of our member companies' home countries."