I think it would be safe to say working with Chinese (mainlanders) is a lot more difficult than it has to be, there it is!
Some of you may not have much to compare with... as you were possibly only employed in your home country and here in China. Some of you may have worked in other parts of the world and have a broader view on what it is like to work with Chinese people.
I do UI/UX design and I have had clients from all around the world. Germany, India, Switzerland, USA, South Africa, Brazil and places considered part of China (depending on who you ask) like Taiwan and Hong Kong.
After working with mainland Chinese on various projects I have to say... I go out of my way to not work with them on any future projects. The list of reasons why is too great but mainly it is horrible communication, disorganization, lack of creativity, too emotionally sensitive to criticism, not being able to verbalize proper requirements and much more.
From all the people I have worked with, Germans, Dutch, Americans, Canadians, English and Swedish are the best to work with. Chinese would have to be the lowest (a little lower than people from India and Pakistan). I don't work with people living in any of these three countries (that's not to say I won't work with say "Matthew Pattel" in the UK, different education, society and work ethic... not racism).
What IS good about working with them? Chinese don't monitor their employees as strictly as Western countries but I believe this may mainly be due to laziness in management. Also it yields poor productivity.
And they are prude negotiators... but again this is kind of double-sided... as if they don't get what they want. Rather than thinking of an alternative, they will get angry and just act like a child that didn't get their candy.
So then, what do you think? Is working with Chinese much more difficult than working with people back home? Have you ever worked in a place with people more difficult to align with than Chinese?
Would working under a Chinese boss be at the top of your preference list or somewhere near the bottom?
When someday you feel like everyone and everything is against you, take a break and know that usually the problem does not lie in them.
It lies in that you don\'t GET them.
It\'s the pain with every boss.
Hope you tide through it stronger.
Chinese workers are fine. There are people who are good at some things and not so good at other things. Just like anywhere else.
I think what we see and experience here is a sympton of the social econonmic and industrial relations phase of development..... with Chinese characteristics.
I would agree with the chekoma above; in China I worked with some hardworking intelligent people who would go far in Australia. I also worked with some right idiots. None of the good ones had the connections to make it into management. Management was fucking dire.
I prefer working under a more western management style, where competence is both demanded and rewarded.
As an aside, I often get strange looks here at home when people learn I've spent a lot of time in Asia and say "oh, Asians work really hard!" No, I reply, they all spend a lot of hours at work. Working hard, working productively and spending a lot of time at work are all completely diffetent things. Turning up at 8am and leaving at 8pm don't meam shit if you've taken three hour worth of breaks, spent two hours gossiping and had a wee nap in the middle as half my colleagues did (the other half DID work very hard to make up for the slackers).