Yajing Wen is the sort of Chinese worker that foreign companies like to hire. The U.K.-educated engineer received her master's degree in March and set out to look for a position with the relatively high pay and flexible working hours that many Chinese believe foreign firms offer.
温雅静（音）正是外资企业喜欢雇用的那种员工。这位在英国留学的工程师今年3月份刚刚拿到硕士学位，并开始寻找一份薪水较高、上班时间灵活的工作。许多中国人都认为外资企业提供这样的工作机会。
But in July, she took a job with a Chinese company.
但今年7月份，她却在一家中资企业找到了一份工作。
Ms. Wen, 35 years old, cites job security as one reason. 'Normally, Chinese companies won't fire people unless they have big problems,' she said. 'But foreign companies have a limited number of staff in China, so if you're not very useful, they've got some better person to replace you.'
35岁的温雅静称自己选择中资企业的原因之一是工作稳定。她说：通常来讲，除非员工有严重问题，否则中资企业不会解雇员工。但外资企业在中国的职位有限，所以如果你没太大用处，它们就会用更好的人取代你。
Western companies have long been the top choice for China's job seekers because of their more competitive salaries, training and travel opportunities. But in China's slowing economy, many foreign companies now face fierce competition from domestic companies offering more stability and, increasingly, more pay.
西方企业一直以来都是中国求职者的首选，原因在于它们提供的薪水更高，有更多培训和旅行的机会。但在中国经济放缓之际，许多外资企业目前在人才招聘方面则面临着本土公司的激烈竞争，这些中资企业不仅提供更稳定的工作，还支付越来越高的薪水。
Last year, 47% of China's workers said they preferred to work at a domestic company, compared with 24% that preferred a foreign firm, according to a survey by CEB, a membership group for Western and Asian multinational companies. That is a flip from five years ago, when 9% preferred a domestic firm and 42% a foreign company. CEB's latest survey covered 16,500 people.
西方和亚洲跨国企业会员组织CEB的一项调查显示，去年，47%的中国员工说他们更愿意在中资企业工作，而更愿意选择外资企业的员工比例只有24%。这一情形与五年前截然相反，当时只有9%的人更愿意选择中资企业，而有42%的人倾向于外资企业。CEB最新的调查覆盖了16,500人。
'There's been a long-standing foreign employer premium that's now gone,' in China, said Brad Adams, head of Asia research for CEB.
CEB亚洲研究负责人亚当斯(Brad Adams)说，外资企业在招聘人才方面长期享有的优势已经不复存在。
That has led some Western companies, such as Procter & Gamble Co. PG -2.05% and General Electric Co. GE -0.15% , to ramp up perks such as travel and benefits. GE says it has raised its entry-level salaries in China around 3% to 5% in recent years. W.R. Grace GRA -1.46% & Co., a specialty-chemicals company, has raised employee salaries an average of 8.5% in China this year, to compete with domestic companies and other Western corporations.
这导致宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble Co.)和通用电气公司(General Electric Co.)等一些西方企业纷纷提高旅行和福利等其他待遇。通用电气说，该公司近年来已经将其在中国的入门职位薪水提高了大约3%-5%。专用化学品公司W.R. Grace今年将中国员工薪水平均上调了8.5%，以此同中资企业和其他西方公司竞争。
Some Western companies in China are also taking the 'radical' step of reviewing their pay every quarter, rather than once a year, to stay a step ahead of local companies, said Richard Parnell, chief executive, Asia Pacific, of recruiting firm Robert Walters.
招聘公司华德士(Robert Walters)亚太区首席执行长帕内尔(Richard Parnell)说，一些在中国经营的西方公司还在谈论采取更进一步措施，把薪资调整频率从每年变为每季度，以此领先于中资企业。
Chinese companies also are competing for high-profile foreign executives. Hugo Barra, Google Inc. GOOG -0.68% 's head of Android product management, joined Chinese phone maker Xiaomi Inc. this year. Huawei Technologies Co. snagged executives from the West, including Ericsson's ERIC -1.76% C.T. Johnson, Nokia Corp.'s NOK1V.HE -1.93% Colin Giles and former U.K. Chief Information Officer John Suffolk.
中资企业同时也在争夺知名的外籍高管。谷歌(Google Inc.)旗下安卓(Android)产品管理负责人巴拉(Hugo Barra)今年加入了中国手机制造商小米公司(Xiaomi Inc.)。华为技术有限公司(Huawei Technologies Co.)也从西方挖来了一些高管，包括爱立信(Ericsson)的约翰逊(C.T. Johnson)、诺基亚(Nokia Corp.)的赵科林(Colin Giles)和前英国政府首席信息长萨福克(John Suffolk)。
For foreign companies in China, the stiff competition translates into higher costs and more work to retain employees. American companies cite rising labor costs and the slowing economy as their top business challenges in China, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.
对在华外企来说，激烈的竞争意味着留住员工的成本更高、需要做的工作更多。位于北京的美国商会(American Chamber of Commerce)说，美国企业认为，他们在中国遇到的商业方面最大的挑战是劳动力成本上升和经济增速放缓。
Domestic companies are also becoming more sophisticated in the way they recruit, from a Chinese steel company touting its expansion into financial and real-estate investments overseas, to a state-owned telecom wooing parents as well as students, according to consulting firm Aon Hewitt.
咨询公司怡安翰威特(Aon Hewitt)说，中国的本土企业在招聘方面也变得越来越精明，比如一家中国钢铁公司就以向海外金融和房地产领域扩张为卖点吸引求职者，还有一家国有电信企业不仅去吸引学生，还大力向学生的父母示好。
'The telecom company understands that because these are only children, they will turn to their parents for the final decision,' said Alan Pang, Aon Hewitt's head of talent for greater China.
怡安翰威特大中国区人才负责人Alan Pang说，电信企业的理解是，他们都还只是孩子，在做最终决定之前会征求父母的意见。
When Huawei needed to fill entry-level positions for college graduates in southern China this year, the technology company offered a starting salary of 10,000 yuan, or roughly $1,600, a month. Sandy Shen, a Gartner analyst, estimates that entry-level salaries for professionals in the technology industry run between 3,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan. Huawei said it pays higher salaries in the southern boomtowns of Shenzhen and Guangzhou because of higher living costs.
今年华为在中国南方的城市招聘大学毕业生从事入门级工作时，这家技术企业开出了月薪1万元人民币的起薪。Gartner的分析师沈哲怡(Sandy Shen)估计，科技业专业人士的入门级职位的薪水在3,000元到6,000元之间。华为说，在深圳和广州等南方城市支付较高的薪水是因为那里的生活成本也比较高。
Nigel Knight, a managing partner at Ernst & Young, said the advisory firm has seen 'a trickle, not a flood' of workers leave the company in recent years to join domestic enterprises. In some cases, the workers have left because they expect faster growth or potential for promotion at domestic companies, said Mr. Knight. Multinationals he consults with are dealing with the same issue, he said.
安永(Ernst & Young)的主管合伙人黎俊伟(Nigel Knight)说，安永发现该公司近年来有一部分――细流，不是洪流――员工离开该公司，加入到中国本土企业。黎俊伟说，有些时候，员工离开是因为他们认为，在国内企业成长更快，更有机会升职。他说，他提供咨询的那些跨国企业也面临着同样的问题。
At a job fair in November at Renmin University in Beijing, the longest lines were in front of China's state-owned enterprises. Several job candidates said they were interested in the Chinese companies because they believed they would be able to get a hukou, or household registration permit, which would entitle them to social services in the city. China uses the hukou system to keep rural migrants from flooding into cities.
今年11月在人民大学举办的一场招聘会上，国有企业摊位前排的队最长。一些求职者说，他们对中国企业感兴趣，因为他们认为中国企业能解决户口，这样就能享受城市的社会服务。中国利用户口制度来阻止农民大量涌入城市。
Overall, 'foreign companies are more professional, but they usually don't provide hukou,' said Lin Kai, a Renmin University graduate who attended the job fair.
参加这次招聘会的人民大学毕业生林凯（音）说，总体来说，外国公司更专业，但他们解决不了户口。