A RECENT survey concerning the current living conditions of white-collar employees in Shenzhen shows that high degrees won’t necessarily guarantee high salaries, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

According to the survey conducted by CJOL.com, 67.2 percent of white-collar employees are earning less than 100,000 yuan (US$14,645) annually. Among these employees, over half have bachelor’s degrees or higher and only 9 percent of those who are well-paid graduated from reputed universities.

The employees earning less than 100,000 yuan are aged between 22 to 28, with an average age of 27.

The survey concluded that this group of young people are earning relatively low incomes because they have just entered the work force and don’t have much work experience, the report said.

Shenzhen has been luring talents from all around China and even overseas with favorable policies for years, therefore the education level of white-collar employees is higher than in other cities on average, the report said.

The new middle class in Shenzhen, people aged between 25 to 36 years old, are leading a more well-off life with annual salaries ranging from 100,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan. However, this group of residents is shouldering more stress.

Around 64 percent of the new middle-class employees indicated that they often or sometimes work overtime and their average stress index is 3.94 (the maximum score is 5). The survey shows that their largest cause of stress is that their income is below expectations.

The main income of the new middle-class people comes from salaries along with some minor income from stock investment and rent from rental properties. Although this group of people is earning better than the older generation, most of them are living under pressure.

Statistics also indicate that only 0.06 percent of white-collar employees earn over 500,000 yuan per year. These people mainly work as engineers or executives in the Internet and telecommunications industries. In particular, software engineers are the employees earning the most in Shenzhen.

It is notable that only 9 percent of people earning high salaries graduated from well-known universities, either in China or overseas, which means that employees with average educational backgrounds have the potential to earn a lot, so it is possible to climb up the social ladder in Shenzhen, according to the survey. (Zhang Qian)