Insights into job-seeking sentiment and behavior, AI adoption, compensation satisfaction, and flexible work trends
RGF International Recruitment has released the Mainland China edition of the RGF Talent in Asia 2026 report. This is the seventh consecutive year that the series has published a dedicated report on the Mainland China market, designed to support employers’ recruitment planning and talent career decisions. The 2026 series covers eight core industries—BFSI, TMT, Industrial Manufacturing, Electronics and Semiconductors, Chemicals and Materials, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Consumer Goods and Retail, and Professional Services and Business Process Outsourcing—and collects and analyzes the views of more than 600 employers and senior professionals, offering concrete and actionable workplace signals for recruitment and career decisions.
Industry Confidence Continues to Recover, Job-Seeking Willingness Edges Up
Building on the recovery trend of the past months, employers and talent are generally positive about industry prospects. The survey shows that 58% of respondents are optimistic about the development of their industry over the coming period, 20% are neutral, and 22% are cautious about the short-term outlook.
The three industries with the highest optimism levels are Electronics and Semiconductors (72%), TMT (66%), and Industrial Manufacturing (58%). As in the previous year, these three industries remain at the top of the confidence ranking, with only slight fluctuations in optimism levels, reflecting their technology-intensive, fast-iterating, and relatively solid fundamentals.
Industry Expectations and Job-Seeking Behavior Are Highly Correlated
The survey further confirms that industry-level expectations are highly correlated with individual job-seeking activity. Among respondents with weaker industry confidence, 27% are actively seeking new opportunities, significantly higher than the 8% in the optimistic group. In the optimistic group, 70% say they currently have no job-seeking plans; in the pessimistic group, only 18% intend to stay in their current positions.
This contrast shows that judgments about industry prospects have moved from sentiment to action and have become a key factor driving voluntary job changes and cross-industry mobility. Concerns about industry prospects are no longer confined to psychological expectations; they directly influence stay-or-leave decisions and career paths.
Recruitment Pace Stabilizes, Releasing a Consolidation Signal
Employers’ recruitment expectations for the next six months show a clear stabilizing trend. The share of employers planning to continue expanding recruitment remains at 31%, broadly unchanged from the previous period; the share expecting to reduce headcount has plunged to 18% from 27% over the past two years, a significant improvement. Meanwhile, the share of companies choosing to keep headcount unchanged has risen sharply to 44%, up notably from 31% last year.
In terms of recruitment cycles, the overall pace in 2026 is consistent with 2025. Most positions can still be filled within one to three months (55%), indicating that market matching efficiency has entered a relatively mature stage. The share filled within one month has edged down to 27%, reflecting greater caution in screening and evaluation, especially for key roles where fit and long-term stability are emphasized. The share of recruitment cycles exceeding three months has risen to 15%, indicating that some roles still involve complexity in skill requirements, industry competition, or internal approval processes. The share of long-cycle recruitment exceeding six months has continued to fall to 4%, further reducing the proportion of extremely hard-to-fill roles and pointing to healthier supply-demand dynamics.
Compensation Planning Tilts Toward Internal Talent, Pay Increase Coverage Rebounds
For compensation planning over the next 6 to 12 months, employers generally send a clear signal of tilting toward stabilizing internal talent. The share of employers planning to provide annual salary increases in the coming year has rebounded to 59%, up from 49% in 2025 and 54% in 2024. The share expecting salary freezes has fallen to 33%, down from 41% last year. The share that may implement pay cuts or adopt a wait-and-see approach has also edged down to 8%, from 10% in 2025.
The rebound in compensation adjustment coverage indicates that after several quarters of headcount optimization and cost control, companies have entered a more stable operating phase and begun to reinvest budget in necessary salary increases to sustain organizational operations.
AI Deeply Embedded in Business Processes, Efficiency Value Continues to Be Released
In 2026, the application of artificial intelligence within enterprises has moved from a conceptual “efficiency tool” to a core driver deeply embedded in business processes. The survey shows that 74% of companies believe generative AI significantly improves efficiency in basic tasks such as repetitive copywriting and data organization. At the same time, AI is accelerating into higher-value business chains, with 53% of companies having optimized customer or employee services through intelligent solutions. Only 4% of employers say AI has not yet delivered clear value. Overall, AI has become an important part of corporate operating systems, with its role shifting from an auxiliary tool to a strategically significant efficiency driver.
Flexible Work Becomes the Norm, Hybrid Model Returns as the Top Benefit
In 2026, companies’ strategies for workplace flexibility show a more stable institutional orientation, and hybrid work has officially entered a normalized phase. Latest data show that hybrid work, at 40%, has again become the primary flexibility benefit offered by companies, up clearly from 35% in 2025. Meanwhile, overtime and holiday compensation (39%) remains stable, and competitive annual leave benefits, also at 39%, have become a core institutional arrangement for enhancing employee experience.
This structural adjustment is highly consistent with management’s long-term policy commitments. When asked about remote work policies for the coming year, 71% of employers say they will continue to offer work-from-home or hybrid options, up further from 67% in 2025. Notably, the share of companies adopting mandatory return-to-office policies has fallen from 22% last year to 16%, showing that after several years of process adjustment, companies have gradually established mature remote collaboration infrastructure. Hybrid work has therefore shifted from a temporary benefit to a stable component of business operations.
RGF Perspectives: From Opportunity-Driven to Structure-Driven
RGF China management emphasizes that employer strategies for 2026 should focus on three directions: retaining key talent, strengthening internal governance rather than merely offering flexible options, and ensuring technology truly serves the organization and its employees. Companies that build systematic capabilities across these three dimensions will maintain stronger competitiveness in the new economic cycle.
For talent, the 2026 job-seeking strategy should shift from “opportunity-driven” to “structure-driven”: choose the industry, choose the culture, choose a flexible system with mature governance, and enhance competitiveness in the new cycle through continuous skills development.
Download the Reports
English report: RGF Talent in Asia 2026 - Mainland China
Chinese report: 《RGF亚洲人才2026：中国大陆篇》
