scmp | Having obtained a dual bachelor’s degree from a US university and
climbed to a senior software engineer’s position within two and a half
years of working for an American company, Owen Wang was forced to
dramatically scale back his salary expectations when he decided to come
home to China.
Currently working in Kansas City – where the
average annual senior software engineer’s salary is US$100,000,
according to glassdoor.com – the best offer from a Chinese firm he has
received so far is a package from a Shenzhen-based start-up worth around
240,000 yuan (US$35,250).
But while he had expected salaries in the
southern Chinese city to be lower than those on offer in the US – the
per capita income in Kansas City is over four times more than the
average in Shenzhen – he had been hoping someone would offer him a pay
packet worth around 500,000 yuan a year.
“We’re still negotiating. I guess I will finally
accept a compromise if there’s no better choice, but the quality of my
life will drop significantly,” said the 27-year-old.
Wang’s plan to return home is not motivated
purely by financial considerations – he worries that tighter US
immigration policies will make it harder for him to stay and his parents
have been hoping that he will be able to come home and visit them more
often – but his disappointment is mirrored by many of the hundreds of
thousands of Chinese who return home from studying and working overseas
every year.
A recent survey by a Beijing-based think tank of
more than 2,000 Chinese returnees found that about 80 per cent said
their salaries were lower than expected, with around 70 per cent saying
what they were doing did not match their experience and skills.
