ABSTRACT
This book has provided an overview of HRM, work and employment in China, covering major aspects of HRM and their characteristics in different types of organizations such as SOEs, public sector organizations, foreign firms, JVs, TVEs and domestic private firms. It has highlighted some of the unique features of HRM practices in China. These include: gender inequality in employment; the weak presence of the trade unions and the absence of the workers’ voice; the unofficial role of grassroot workers in maintaining the egalitarian distribution system; problems of skills shortages and the associated problems in recruitment, retention and training; and the adoption of Western HR practices, performance management, and enterprise culture management. The discussion of these issues was located in the broader institutional and social context of work organization and employment environment within which HR policies and practices are embedded. These include the labour market segmentation and the ineffectiveness of the minimum wage regulations, for example. It has drawn our attention to the pressures and sources of influence which have helped to shape the new patterns of employment relations in China that have become more diverse and dynamic, marked by shorter employment contracts and tenures and rising levels of labour-management disputes.
