Getty Images” Then I think about it, I certainly chose the wrong market”.
Xiao Chen*, who works in a private equity firm in China’s economic hub, Shanghai, says he is having a hard time.
For his first year in the job, he says he was paid almost 750, 000 yuan ($ 106, 200, £81, 200 ). He was certain he would quickly reach the million-yuan level.
He is now making half of what he did when he was younger. His earn was frozen next year, and an annual extra, which had been a major part of his earnings, vanished.
The “glow” of the business has worn off, he says. It had previously made him “feel fancy”. Today, he is just a “finance rat”, as he and his contemporaries are derisively called online.
China’s once-thriving sector, which encouraged ambition, is now slow. The government’s leader, Xi Jinping, has become afraid of personal success and the difficulties of widening injustice.
Reprisals on billionaires and firms, from real estate to technology to funding, have been accompanied by socialist-style communications on enduring pain and trying for China’s success. Even famous people have been instructed to post more photos electronically.
People are told that loyalty to the Communist Party and their country then outweighs personal ambition, which has altered Chinese community in the last few decades.
Mr. Chen’s luxurious lifestyle has undoubtedly experienced the pinch from this U-turn. He exchanged a cheaper vacation in South East Asia for a vacation in Europe. And he says he “would n’t even think about” buying again from luxury brands like” Burberry or Louis Vuitton”.
But at least ordinary workers like him are less likely to find themselves in trouble with the law. Dozens of finance officials and banking bosses have been detained, including the former chairman of the Bank of China.
The market is under strain. Give reductions in banks and investment companies are a hot topic on Chinese social media, despite the few companies that have formally acknowledged it.
Millions of views have been posted on content about falling incomes recently. Additionally, hashtags like” changing careers from fund” and “quitting financing” have received more than two million views on the well-known social media platform Xiaohongshu.
Some finance professionals have seen their money decline since the start of the epidemic, but some people view one popular social media post as a turning point.
In July 2022, a Xiaohongshu person sparked anger after boasting about her 29-year-old father’s 82, 500-yuan monthly spend at leading financial services business, China International Capital Corporation.
People were shocked by the significant wage gap between what a fund contractor was receiving and their own money. The average monthly salary in the country’s richest area, Shanghai, was just over 12, 000 renminbi.
It sparked a discussion about incomes in the field that had been started by another net users who made money earlier that year.
These posts were made shortly after Xi demanded” common wealth,” a plan to close the growing wealth gap.
China’s financing ministry issued new regulations in August 2022 that required businesses to “optimise the domestic income distribution and medically design the wage system.”
The following season, the country’s major problem watchdog criticised the ideas of “finance elites” and the “only cash matters” process, making funding a clearer target for the country’s continued anti-corruption campaign.
Getty ImagesThe changes came in a sweeping but discreet way, according to Alex*, a manager at a state-controlled bank in China’s capital, Beijing.
Even if there is an official document, you would not see the order put into writing; it’s certainly not for people on our level to see it. But everyone knows there is a cap on it ]salaries ] now. Simply put, we are unsure of the cap’s size.
According to Alex, employers are also having a hard time adjusting to the rapid pace of the crackdown:” Many banks ‘ orders could change unexpectedly quickly.”
By June or July, they would realize that the payment of salaries has exceeded the requirement, according to them. They would issue the annual guidance in February. Then they would develop methods to establish performance goals that would take people’s pay.”
Mr. Chen claims that his workload has decreased significantly as fewer companies have started trading shares on the stock market. Domestic businesses have also become cautious in China as a result of the crackdowns and weak consumption, and foreign investment has decreased.
In the past, his work frequently involved new initiatives that would generate revenue for his business. His days are currently primarily filled with chores, such as organizing the data from his earlier projects.
” The team’s morale is very low, and most discussions with the bosses are negative,” the team said. In three to five years, people are discussing what to do.
Although there have been some layoffs, it’s difficult to say whether people are leaving the industry in large numbers. Jobs are also scarce in China now, so even a lower-paying finance job is still worth keeping.
But the frustration is evident. Switching jobs and changing seats were compared by a user on Xiaohongshu, but he warned that if you stand up, your seat might be gone.
Mr. Chen claims that Chinese society in general is at odds with the authorities and that it’s also true that finance workers are at odds with the authorities.
” We are no longer wanted, even on a blind date.” Once they learned that you worked in finance, you would be advised not to leave.
The finance workers ‘ names have been changed to protect their identities.