Financial professionals on the mainland work 12-hour days on average and suffer from various health problems,
According to a survey conducted by organisations, including the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, that canvassed 10,973 finance professionals in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, more than 94 per cent of respondents toiled between 46 and 65 hours a week. More than 90 per cent say they have gastrointestinal problems, while 73 per cent feel they are often stressed and depressed as a result of their jobs.
Sources of stress include bureaucratic pressure from senior management and the need to improve company performance and drive revenue growth.
Airline honours excellence
Cathay Pacific Airways has honoured 16 staff for their performance in customer service. This year's Betsy awardees were drawn from cabin crew, reservations staff and airport teams, from Hong Kong and overseas. Winners were appraised on their level of going beyond the call of duty, the value provided to passengers, their level of inspiration to staff and promoting Cathay Pacific/Dragonair services.
The overall winner was senior purser, Sonal Sud, who acted as a translator for an elderly couple who needed medical assistance on the ground, and then accompanied them to hospital. When she arrived home, she kept calling the hospital to check on them, also calling their children in San Francisco. In the morning, she met the couple at the airport and made arrangements to ensure they were well looked after on the flight.
All the winners received a Betsy gold pin and certificate. They will also have the chance to visit the Boeing or Airbus plants to participate in activities such as a Cathay Pacific inaugural flight or a Unicef-organised field trip.
Make most of Mondays
British women take four times as long to get ready for work on Mondays than on Fridays, while men also put less effort into their appearance as the week goes on, according to research by retail chain Debenhams.
On average, women spend 76 minutes getting ready on Mondays - with almost a third of that spent on their hair - 18 minutes on makeup, 16 minutes trying on different combinations of clothes, and the rest is taken up by showering and washing.
This is reduced to 40 minutes on Tuesdays and continues to decline as the week goes on, falling to 19 minutes on Fridays.
"Make the most of looking at your work colleagues on a Monday morning because that's as good as they're going to get," says Debenhams spokesman Ed Watson. But it is not just women who make more effort at the start of the week.
Men also let their standards suffer with each passing day, the survey of 1,000 customers by Debenhams' personal shopper network found. They take 28 minutes on Monday, half that on Tuesday and 11 for the rest of the week.
