Chinese job seekers don't seem bothered by slowdown

Young jobseekers in China
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Young jobseekers in China

China's economy may be headed for a bumpy ride as growth slows, but that hasn't dented the confidence of jobseekers who remain largely optimistic about employment prospects in the near future, a new survey shows.

Almost half of the 2,400 employees surveyed in China's professional sector believe the job market for the sector they work in will improve in the next 12 months, according to recruitment agency Michael Page's report published on Wednesday.

"While growth in the Chinese economy has slowed over the last 12 months, the volume of job opportunities in the professional sector remains steady and so too are the confidence levels of jobseekers," Richard King, managing director, north and eastern China at Michael Page said in a note.

About 40 percent of the respondents also said they're likely to change jobs in the next 12 months, while more than 60 percent will ask their current employer for a pay rise in order to stay in their present role.

"In light of this, both financial and non-financial incentives will need to be offered by employers looking to secure talented staff in the next 12 months," King said.

(Read More: Will a job market scare push Beijing to act?)

The report comes amid signs that a slowing Chinese economy is impacting the labor market in what is considered the "workshop of the world."

Employment indicators like HSBC's purchasing managers sub-employment index for June showed the fastest rate of job shedding in manufacturing since August last year as employment in the sector decreased for three consecutive months.

Added to that, China's highly anticipated second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers this week showed that the world's second largest economy slowed for a second straight quarter, growing 7.5 percent year on year, down from 7.7 percent in the previous quarter.

(Read More: China's economy slows for second straight quarter)

But the growth concerns seem to have had limited impact overall on jobseekers' perception of job security and monetary gain in the professional sector, according to the study.

"Just over half of employees that responded to the survey will seek a wage rise of 16 percent or above on their current base salary when looking for a new job," the report said.

(Read More: China Labor Cost Rise to Boost Rivals in Asia)

The top five sectors where employees were most likely to change roles was engineering and manufacturing , accounting and finance, technology, procurement and supply chain and lastly sales.

In a note of caution, however, more than a third of those surveyed did say they were concerned about global economic influences on the Chinese economy and how it would impact domestic business and hiring activity.

By CNBC.com's Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani; Follow her on Twitter @RajeshniNaidu