2017 Industrial & Automotive Salary Guide

Contents: Commentary on Industrial & Automotive Roles and Remuneration in China for 2017

Commentary on Industrial & Automotive Roles and Remuneration in China for 2017

Hiring trends

As a sector, industry and automotive is changing fast. Heavyweight Chinese technology businesses, such as Alibaba, Baidu, Letv and Tencent, are beginning to penetrate the automotive industry. Meanwhile, some local new energy and telematics start-ups are appearing, backed by private equity firms and government sponsorship. The Chinese government strongly supports the development of new energy vehicles.

Encouragingly, the arrival of the start-ups is giving mid- to senior-level professionals the opportunity to break the career ceiling that they may have encountered while working for a multinational. They also see working for a local company as a way to further their personal development and get more decision-making powers.

Talent supply

Local candidates fill over 80% of the roles that are listed. Demand is highest for professionals with expertise in new energy vehicle engineering, telematics, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and automotive aftermarket manufacturing.

Since the local talent pool is deep, multinationals would rather make local hires than commit to expensive expatriate pay packages. They do offer some rotation opportunities to Chinese professionals, however. On the other hand, Chinese automotive companies like to supplement their skills base with technical experts from overseas, particularly those who have knowledge of telematics and ADAS. Often these experts come from Germany or North America.

Research and development is the main area where a talent shortage exists. There are not enough experienced candidates who possess the requisite combination of technical and language skills. Both multinationals and local companies are being affected by the shortage, which is likely to continue throughout 2017.

Salary & compensation trends

Multinational companies are likely to maintain a normal merit pay increase of around 5-8% in 2017, but local companies will pay an above-average salary increment to attract the best candidates.

Typically, this will be an increase in the region of 20-30%. Yet they may pay 50% or even more to attract external candidates with sought-after skills in new energy vehicle development. These skills relate to ADAS, battery management systems, chargers, DCDC automotive converters, embedded software, inverters, telematics and variable cylinder management.