Annual bonuses: bitter or sweet?

(Ecns.cn)--With Chinese New Year nearly at hand, many office workers are longing for big bonuses to help temporarily relieve the pressure caused by soaring commodity prices and slowly increasing salaries. Yet those who need the money the most are less likely to receive it.

FAW-Volkswagen, a Chinese joint venture between First Automobile Works (FAW) and Volkswagen Group in Changchun, Jilin Province, has created public envy since last week when it reportedly planned to grant its employees a year-end bonus equal to 27 months of salaries.

The company confirmed the news, but added that it was not that much since the bonus was arrived at according to the "basic" salary, which is 3,000 yuan ($466) per month. The basic salary accounts for one-third of the total payroll of the company, Guangzhou Daily reported on December 22.

Handsome annual bonuses can also be found at other state-owned enterprises (SOE)， government departments and private companies, pointed out the China Business Times.

The newspaper added that SOEs in general are way ahead of other companies, with bonuses ranging from tens of thousands to nearly hundreds of thousands of yuan. Those engaged in the tobacco, crude oil, coal and power industries are especially the target of public envy.

Speaking of the "red envelope," Zhu Xiaoli, a manager at the Shaanxi Coal Industry Company Limited, brightened up with joy immediately. "Though businesses on the whole were depressed, our company still granted us big 'red envelopes.' I can afford a 100,000-yuan car with that sum, while the amount for a senior employee is enough to buy an advanced sports car," she said.

Mr. Zhang told reporters from the China Business Times that he receives about 100,000 yuan ($15,885) every year. "The bonus is compensation for my modest monthly salary. My total annual earnings are actually no more than a white-collar in a foreign-invested company," he commented.

Civil servant posts enjoy great popularity in China for their stability and light workloads--civil servants also receive large bonuses, added the China Business Times.

A civil servant in Beijing claimed that bonuses average 9,500 yuan ($1,509) and 9,000 yuan ($1,430) in first-class and second-class government departments respectively, while civil servants at township and county-level governments get about 13,000 yuan ($2,065).

Statistics show that in Beijing, annual bonuses for civil servants come out higher than the average level of 5,008 yuan ($796).

An officer at a local Bureau of Personnel in Beijing noted that "amounts vary at different government departments, with the Bureau of Land and Resources, the Administration of Industry and Commerce, the Taxation Bureau and the People's Court topping the list."

Annual bonuses at private companies also vary greatly, since most such companies are struggling to grow and more inclined to pinch pennies.

"We were awarded annual bonuses according to our performance. Some received as much as 20,000 yuan (3,177), while some got nothing at all," Sun, a manager at a public relations company, told the China Business Times.

"Besides double pay, we were given other 'red envelopes.' Especially when people are planning to job-hop at the end of the year, the company will pay key staff huge bonuses to keep them. If we get a lucky draw at the company's annual party, we can win a tour to a foreign country, which is also part of the annual bonuses," noted Mr. Wu, an employee at a large domestic logistics company.

Yet the situation in some small private companies is far less glamorous. Someone once received 12 red envelopes with only 1 yuan in each. Other bonuses have included rotten fruit and out-of-date food.