Over half of the white-collar workers in China's cities believe it is not as easy as before to obtain a position with an annual salary of over 100,000 yuan. This result was found by a human resource company in its recent survey. An expert says one of the major reasons is the recent change in methods of payment by companies.

Some people believe it's difficult to get good salaries in the companies that put more and more requirements on their employees.

"In the past, the pressure on the people who had annual salaries of over 100 thousand yuan was different from how it is now. I think now people shoulder more stress. Maybe companies recruit fewer employees, and ask them to do more than one person's work."

Some other people think the overall levels of pay are going down.

"I remember when I had just started at college in 2000, graduates could get a job earning 4,000 to 5,000 yuan each month. But when I graduated, the average wage of graduates was down to 2,500 yuan and now it's even lower at 1,500 yuan."

Bian Binbing is the president of CHR Consulting, the company who conducted the survey. He says people are now finding it more difficult to get jobs that have annual salaries of over 100,000 yuan, or about 8,000 yuan a month, because there are more people competing for jobs at this level than before, causing an oversupply of human resources in this area.

He notes that changes to the methods of payment are also the reason behind the fall, saying companies are now putting more emphasis on other benefits for their employees as part of the salary.

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"Some enterprises claim the benefits they offer their employees are part of the salary. But this is misleading by the companies as it is only for the sake of the their own interests. A yearly salary actually only refers to the money you receive. Of course, the companies should also provide additional benefits and extra pay depending on performances."

The HR expert also advises professionals to realize their own capabilities and values, and the key to increasing their income is to make the best of their competitive edges.