The year-end bonus is always a hot topic in China whenever the Lunar New Year approaches, as employees from different companies show off and compare their long-awaited reward.

Huawei’s staff made the envy of the country after the tech giant decided to hand out 40 billion yuan (US$6.21 billion) to 105,000 staff members, meaning each would receive 380,000 yuan as a year-end bonus, according to an internal circular.

Though 11% less than what they received in 2020, the amount has taken some staffers by surprise as they expected the company to be less generous due to the sanctions slapped by Washington.

Huawei’s total expenditure on wages and welfare reached 134.94 billion yuan in 2020.

Another mainland tech giant Tencent also announced on Monday that it is awarding 100 shares of the company’s stock to each employee, with a lock-up period of one year. The value of each person’s stock is over HK$70,000 (US$9,029), based on the closing share price of Tencent at HK$736.5.

It was understood that not all staff members received the bonus but a number of newcomers, including some joining only in December last year, did.

Besides cash and company shares, luxury cars would also be a good choice to thank employees with good performance.

The Jereh Group, a Chinese oil field services company and manufacturer of oilfield equipment, sent out 38 BMW saloon vehicles this year to those with excellent working performance. A total of 407 luxury vehicles, worth around 56 million yuan, were awarded to employees across different levels over the past 13 years.

For the majority of the working class in the mainland, this year’s annual bonuses were less generous than last year’s.

On average, white-collar workers received 7,826 yuan, 18% less than that in 2020. Among various industries, white collars working for energy, mining, environment protection, non-profit organizations and official institutions received more.

In Taiwan, many technology and chip making companies also dished out big bonuses to their employees.

An employee who has worked for Realtek Semiconductor for six years said he received a reward equivalent to nearly 11 months of his salary. Staff of Quanta Computer, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of laptops and other electronic hardware, got a year-end bonus equal to one-half of annual salary.

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