BEIJING - Nearly 93 percent of workers intend to switch jobs in the near future, a new survey suggests.

Chinahr.com, a human resources provider, quizzed 5,000 people on the popular sohu.com portal and found that those who have worked between one and five years at their current jobs made up 84 percent of those eyeing new pastures, while novices with less than one year's experience in their positions made up 9 percent.

Chinahr.com predicted that this month would mark the peak of job-swapping as employees sought better opportunities after receiving end-of-year bonuses before the Spring Festival.

Zhang Haiyang, 27, a senior auditor at a well-known international accounting firm, is busy seeking a new job.

"I prefer State-owned companies for their stable payments, welfare arrangements and more leisure time," he said. Zhang has worked for this company for nearly five years.

But Hao Yan, a senior manager at an overseas company, said she is considering leaving if she finds a job with a better career path.

Reasons for wanting to change jobs varied, with 39 percent blaming unsatisfactory pay and welfare packages, 38 percent saying their employers didn't cater to personal development, 11 percent fearing no prospects of promotion, 6 percent citing unbearable pressure and 4.6 percent claiming their bosses or colleagues were difficult to work with.

A total of 39 percent expected a 30- to 50-percent rise in salary after switching to a new employer while 35 percent anticipated a 10- to 30-percent increase. In 2009, the expectation was between 20 and 30 percent.

"That means employees' expectations have been rising as the economy recovers and the number of available positions increases, which affects turnover rates," said Ouyang Hui, a career consultant at ChinaHR.

He said those who hoped to but didn't leave their employer last year would seize the opportunity and contribute to a higher number of employees who change jobs this year.

"Companies must get ready and cope with the situation carefully," he said. "They need to deploy new recruitment programs to fill any gaps as soon as people leave, and try to persuade core personnel to stay by meeting their demands."

The high turnover rate among Chinese employees has become a striking feature of the world's biggest labor market, said Zeng Xiangquan, dean of labor relations and human resources at Renmin University of China.

"Now that people are happy to hop from job to job, companies need to rethink their management styles and learn how to stabilize their staff," Zeng said.

"They should provide reasonable career ladders for employees, because although today's Chinese are less loyal to their employers compared with their parents' generation, they care about career development very much."

(China Daily 03/19/2010 page2)