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Ralph Jennings

Employers in China anticipate a slightly higher median salary increase next year as they push to retain top-tier talent despite financial pressures following a soft 2026, according to data published by a global advisory.
Companies were budgeting for a median increase of 4.5 per cent in 2027, following 4.3 per cent growth in 2026 and 4.5 per cent in 2025, the advisory and broking firm WTW said in a new report.
Even so, the three-year figure would still lag Asia-Pacific regional averages over the same period by 0.4 percentage points, it added.
“The data for China highlights a classic optimisation challenge,” a WTW spokeswoman told the South China Morning Post in a statement. “Employers are caught between managing organisational costs and safeguarding top-tier talent.”
She said the slowdown in 2026 was primarily driven by intense corporate cost-control pressures and weaker-than-expected financial results.
The report, which was released on Monday, noted that a “staggering” 37.5 per cent of surveyed organisations were focused on employee retention, reflecting a “tight” labour market, particularly in high-growth sectors.
The findings were based on a survey of 938 organisations conducted in the second quarter of 2026 and carried no margin of error. Senior human resources leaders buy the annual reports to help develop compensation strategies.


Highlighting the intense competition for top-tier talent, Chinese media outlet LatePost reported in April that ByteDance – the parent company of TikTok – had offered a former lead researcher from DeepSeek an annual package reaching up to 100 million yuan (US$14.8 million) to join its “Seed AI” development team.
This scramble for leading talent was also reflected in social media comments by a DeepSeek representative, who posted in January that the firm’s newly formed agentic AI team was grappling with an acute talent shortage.
“The key always is to keep your top talent,” said Charles Chang, a professor of finance at Fudan University in Shanghai. “Certainly tech is going to be feeling it first, but that’s not all.”
In Hong Kong, salary increases were expected to remain moderate as employers took “a more measured approach to compensation planning” amid cost pressures and a “cautious talent market”, WTW said in the report.
The city’s median salary increase last year was 3.7 per cent, slipped to 3.5 per cent this year and was expected to rebound to 3.8 per cent in 2027, it added.
The advisory found that 35 per cent of Hong Kong employers reported no change in salary increase adjustments compared with 2025, while 34 per cent said budgets were lower and just 27 per cent said they were higher.
India was leading the Asia-Pacific’s median salary increases this year at 9 per cent, with the same allocation anticipated next year, the report said.


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The modest rise still lags regional averages and comes as firms try to retain staff amid aggressive recruitment, according to a new report


The modest rise still lags regional averages and comes as firms try to retain staff amid aggressive recruitment, according to a new report.


China’s hi-tech boom pushes firms to boost pay in 2027 as keeping talent a priority

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The modest rise still lags regional averages and comes as firms try to retain staff amid aggressive recruitment, according to a new report

The modest rise still lags regional averages and comes as firms try to retain staff amid aggressive recruitment, according to a new report