'Indians more confident about country's economy than Chinese'

Even as both India and China compete with each other to retain the fastest growing economy tag, Indian employees were more confident about the state of their economy (50 per cent) over the Chinese, who seemed to be less self-assured (28 per cent), a report said.
"Employees in India are far more positive about the state of their country's economy, as 50 per cent of employees in India rating the economy good to excellent compared to 28 per cent employees rating the Chinese economy good to excellent," according to Michael Page Job Confidence index survey.
The study drew a comparison between the responses from over 1,200 employees in India and over 700 employees in China, from mid-senior level, across organisations and sectors.

The survey also revealed that employees in India were more optimistic about the next 12 months with regard to better skill development (74 per cent compared to 72 per cent in China) and career progression (72 per cent compared to 67 per cent in China).
However, employees in India were less satisfied about salary (21 per cent compared to 16 per cent in China), opportunities for promotion (31 per cent compared to 28 per cent in China) and job security (20 per cent compared to 14 per cent in China), it said.
"Interestingly, Indian employees seem to be less satisfied about certain aspects of their job compared to their counterparts in China. This can be attributed to an optimistic mindset and a better sentiment of market conditions hence higher expectations," Michael Page India Senior Managing Director Sebastien Hampartzoumian said.

About 44 per cent Indian employees cited new skills development as the top reason for conducting a job search, while 43 per cent of employees in China sought work-life balance.

In China, keenness to attain a healthy work-life balance is prioritised over new skill development, which seemed to be of greater significance to Indians.
Both countries showcased a willingness to explore working abroad.
"India's growth story has been closely linked to skill development over the last two years and seeing this taking importance over salary increase is very surprising," Hampartzoumian added.
Overseas employment was generally seen as an attractive option across both nations, in India 64 per cent while in China 59 per cent, the survey said.

Indians continued to be positive about the opportunity to develop new skills and the possibility of getting a promotion this year.
In contrast, employees from China were slightly less confident, it added.