By Yinmai O'Connor
Last year saw major layoffs and salary cuts throughout all sectors in China. Annual reports from 23 of China's biggest firms – including the top five companies in real estate, internet, automotive and financial industries, as well as three of the largest electronic car manufacturers – showed that 14 of them downsized their work forces, while others slashed salaries and cut staff related expenses.
China's largest property developer, Poly Real Estate, fired 16.3% of their employees – a whopping 11,000 jobs – in the past year. Despite subsidies provided by the government to support the market, real estate investments and sales have remained slow.