Employees in China are often expected to participate in after-work social events or run errands for supervisors. These actions are seen as expressions of loyalty and respect, extending the professional relationship into the personal domain. Such rituals strengthen bonds, build trust, and maintain group harmony, central to the Chinese work ethic.
work-life balance
identity and comfort
Some Chinese companies personalize office environments to foster identity and comfort, blending modern design with cultural elements. For example, modern Chinese office designs often incorporate traditional aesthetics with open, collaborative spaces to enhance belonging and productivity, signaling respect for individual and group needs simultaneously.
Personalization Through Technology
Chinese tech firms, like Tencent with WeChat, use AI and big data to personalize the employee and customer experience. WeChat’s integration of personalized news feeds, chatbots, and seamless service access within one platform exemplifies how personalization extends into work culture and customer relations, creating engagement through tailored content and support.
Guanxi in HR Practices
Human resources decisions such as hiring, promotions, and task allocations in Chinese companies often rely on Guanxi (personal networks). HR managers foster loyalty through relationship-based decision-making, which motivates employees by embedding social trust and reciprocity in work roles. This personalized approach strengthens cohesion but requires careful balance to avoid perceptions of favoritism.
Why I left my tech job
Tech jobs are known to have some of the most lavish benefits and perks, not to mention some of the highest salaries in the country. Still, that is not enough to keep some millennials from quitting. CNBC Make It spoke to several people who left their lucrative tech jobs to find out why they did it and what they are doing now.
YouTube comments:
“I am 50 years old working in the high tech industry, mentally tired and sick of the weekly 8 to 5 routine. Never got a proper day off even through the pandemic. Hats off to the millenials and GenZ that think differently and put more weight on LIVING rather than just WORKING.”
“As someone who used to work 80 hours a week, quitting my job to become a freelancer was the best thing I have ever done. Sure I still work a lot of hours and often close to 70-80 hrs a week, I feel like I am doing this for myself and not some corporation.”
“I worked a low paying tech job for six years and still felt the burn out. The problem is that tech is very fast paced and competition focused. You can barely keep up. Though I got promoted regularly, my higher ups told me the truth before they left, they said that I was severely underpaid based on my skills (essentially I branded myself a one stop shop for the marketing department as I am both technically knowledgeable, people oriented and strategic). I maxed out at $50K. So I decided to jump ship with little planned. Now I run a financial agency with my husband and we make $250K a year as entrepreneurs and we have the freedom to set our own lifestyle.”
“We don’t want perks. We want more money and we want autonomy. It’s simple.”
Why Americans Are Moving to Germany for Work
Looking at how Germany and the USA treat types of “leave”, there is one universal truth: whereas Germany sees it as a basic human right, America sees it as a commercial bargaining chip… and the statistics in this video schocked us.
Looking at our contracts, our employment in Germany is so much more humane – with a work-culture that guarantees vacation time, maternity leave, sick leave, parental leave and more for all full-time workers.
YouTube comments:
“I think it is important to note that the benefits we enjoy in germany did not just fall from the heavens, but they are the results of many decades of struggle by the workers movement. Do not take these things for granted! Join the union and vote for worker-friendly parties.”
“Before every American now starts to look for a job in Germany, keep in mind, that this is not uniquely German. Nearly all European countries have similar regulations like Germany, sometimes a little less, sometimes even significantly better.”
“When I had my first baby, I was working in retail for a cosmetics company in Germany. They had to provide a chair and stretcher for me to sit/ lie down at all times. I wasn’t allowed to carry anything heavy and after 22 weeks of pregnancy wasn’t allowed to work standing up for more than 4 hours a day. At every doctor’s appointment, my OBGyn would ask me if I was still ok working or if they should give me a Beschäftigungsverbot (a kind of mandatory medical leave), which is fairly common in the last few months of pregnancy, especially for jobs that can be physically straining.”
Work in Germany. 5 Reasons.
Germany has some of the strictest labour laws in Europe. The country has gone to great lengths to try to ensure that workers rights are enshrined in law. This makes it a particularly attractive place to live and work in.
YouTube comments:
“Bildungsurlaub” / educational vacation is limited to 5 days per work-year, but you can combine the educational days of two years to a total of 10 days. In most cases you will have to book a surveyed course to profitize on this regulation. Sick leave with payment through your employer is limited to 7 weeks, after that you will receive “Krankengeld / sick-leave-payment” through your health-insurance which is only 70% of your salary.”
“There are laws for everything. I work for myself. Imagine you earn 200k in a year. More than 40% is going to the gouverment. You also have to pay more for health insurance if you earn more. Same thing with investments like rental objects. And 1000 other things. And now? Energy, food almost everything is getting more expensive. life was good a few years ago.”
Work/Life Balance for Germany’s Middle Class
Michael Moore visits two factories and business parks where he talks (through his German translator) with various other blue-collared workers about the country’s labor rights and work life balance. He and his film crew visit the pencil making factory Faber-Castell.
Working hours. Holidays. And more.
A key issue for many workers is flexible working time in order to have a work-life balance. Negotiating a work/life balance can help enable parents (both men and women) to reconcile their work with their family lives and women in particular to participate in the labour market.
Finding the right work-life balance can allow workers to take leave from work so that they can participate in education or training or take up an interest, hobby or leisure pursuit. This may mean that employees can reorganise their working lives and hours around shorter days, weeks, months or years.
German families tend to be small with only one or two children. The men are still quite often considered to be the head of the household, even though both the wife and husband work.