Why Are Foreign Talents Leaving China? This Survey Provides Insight

Vincent R. Vinci, Contributing Editor | Oct 26, 2022 4:49 pm | Add a comment | 1226 reads

A few months ago, when Shanghai and Beijing were dealing with Covid lockdowns, we asked readers if they’d be willing to take part in a survey conducted by Engineering Wellbeing.

The results of this survey were completed by the team behind Engineering Wellbeing, headed by Dr. Paul Rochon and Nathan Cornwell. The survey itself was carried out in Q2 of 2022, with a sample size of 280 employees based in China. The results show clearly how wellbeing is affected by and how it impacts organizations. Here are some key findings:

1. The Shanghai (hard) lockdown was less detrimental than the Beijing (soft) lockdown

The findings clearly point to resilence, organizational commitment, and employee perception of the organizational support being siginificantly higher in Shanghai than in Beijing.

2. There is a wide discrepancy between the wellbeing of Chinese versus foreign staff

3. Mental wellbeing was the most impactful result from lockdowns, with nearly 30 percent of foreigners showing signs of clinical depression, with the biggest challenge being to detect it before it becomes chronic

Let's see some Wellbeing challenges that employees have, and how they feel.

4. Foreign women are the most impacted by the situation

Foreign women scored significantly lower than Chinese women in all our findings. They show lower wellbeing level, resilience, perception of support, and commitment to their organization. Chinese women, on the other hand, showed a higher level of resilience.

What steps must organizations take?

Employee perception of SUPPORT is Key!

The research strongly predicts how effective this could best support heightened levels of wellbeing and commitment.

55 percent of survey respondents feel a higher sense of wellbeing and 72 percent have a higher commitment to the organization when they perceive organizational support.

What is efficient organizational Support? Still concerned about Wellbeing while living in China? Want to find a solution for your organization? Engineering Wellbeing is planning to host a webinar for individuals and businesses on how to improve wellbeing moving forward in conjunction with the British Chamber of Commerce (BritCham) in the coming month. Stay tuned for details!

And if you are interested in the full report or want to know how Engineering Wellbeing can help, please contact Dr. Paul Rochon via the QR code below.