On August 30, a circulated message from CICC (China International Capital Corporation) stating that “Several employees at CICC have received emails about demotions and salary cuts. If they do not sign to accept, the company will proceed with subsequent work arrangements according to unified company plans,” has drawn market attention. According to sources familiar with the matter, this is indeed happening.
“The assessments related to this demotion have been ongoing for several months. This time is equivalent to requiring employees to sign to confirm acceptance of the demotion and agree to salary adjustments corresponding to the new position. Those who do not accept the arrangements can choose to resign voluntarily. If an employee doesn’t resign nor sign, the company will continue with the process of demotion and salary reduction,” as reported by “Yicai.”
In May of this year, Chinese media reported on CICC’s future plans for salary cuts and layoffs, anticipating a 25% reduction in salaries and approximately 1/3 reduction in the investment banking business segment.
In the first half of the year, CICC had already reduced its workforce by 264 employees, affecting both mainland China and overseas offices. According to CICC’s semi-annual report disclosed on August 30, as of June 30, the total number of employees in the CICC Group decreased from 15,327 at the end of 2023 to 15,081, with 13,967 employees located in mainland China and 1,114 employees in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Among them, the number of mainland Chinese employees decreased by 221, while overseas employees decreased by 25.
As the first Sino-foreign joint venture investment bank in mainland China, CICC was once a symbol of high salaries.
Data from Wind Information shows that in 2021, the average annual salary payable to CICC employees was approximately 1.1643 million yuan, with the average actual payment per person at 0.939 million yuan. In 2023, the average annual salary payable to employees dropped further to 0.7004 million yuan, with the average actual payment around 0.8851 million yuan.
In other words, from 2021 to 2023, the average salary of CICC employees decreased from 1.1643 million yuan to 0.7004 million yuan, a reduction of 0.4639 million yuan, representing an accumulated decline of 39.84%. As of 2024, there seems to be no sign of relief from this trend of salary cuts.
In recent years, as the Chinese economy continues to decline, rumors of job cuts and salary reductions in the securities industry have been rampant. Looking at the annual reports released by the listed securities firms in recent times, job cuts and salary reductions have indeed become a common practice in the industry.
According to data from iFinD by Tonghuashun, in the first half of the year, the total number of employees at 14 large securities firms with assets exceeding 200 billion yuan decreased by 5,735 people. Among them, Fangzheng Securities had the largest reduction, with 1,381 fewer employees. Numerous securities firms, including CITIC Securities, CITIC Securities and Investments, Guosen Securities, and GF Securities, have all reduced their workforce by over 500 people in the first half of the year.