Exclusive | US consulting giant Bain & Company offers China staff 6 months of voluntary leave, sources say
- Some employees have been given the chance to take part in a half-year ‘career enrichment programme’ outside the office
- The move comes after Chinese police visited the American company’s offices in Shanghai and questioned its staff
US consultancy giant Bain & Company is offering some staff in China the option to take six months’ leave while earning a portion of their regular salaries, according to people familiar with the matter.
Employees were informed this week of a new “career enrichment programme”, with those who are accepted being allowed to take a half-year leave to “learn a new skill”, according to sources who were briefed on the scheme, but declined to be identified because the information is private.
A stipend equivalent to 30 per cent of base pay will be provided during the period, the people said. Participation is voluntary.
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Bain’s offer came after Chinese police last month visited the US company’s Shanghai offices and questioned its staff. Officers seized phones and computers, according to a Financial Times report at the time. Bain has said it is “cooperating as appropriate” with authorities.
The nature, reason and potential consequence of that visit remains unknown to the public. The Chinese government has not disclosed any related information.
On Monday, however, state broadcaster China Central Television aired a prime-time news report that provided a more detailed account of an investigation into Capvision Partners, another multinational consultancy. In that programme, Capvision, which arranges informational interviews with subject experts for clients, was accused of “degenerating into an accomplice of overseas intelligence agencies”.
Capvision said in a statement on Wednesday it has set up a compliance commission and will rectify its operation under the guidance of China’s national security authority.
In March, Chinese authorities also raided the Beijing office of Mintz Group, a US due diligence advisory, and detained five local employees. China’s foreign ministry later said the company was suspected of engaging in illegal activities.
It is not known whether Bain’s latest subsidised leave programme in China is related to any government investigation or changes in the regulatory environment. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Bain has previously arranged similar programmes in other countries, which are sometimes welcomed by employees as chances to take a long holiday.
The company has told MBA graduates with offer letters this year that if they chose to delay their start date to April 2024, it would pay them US$40,000 to work for a non-profit group, or US$30,000 to learn a new language or participate in an educational programme, according to a Wall Street Journal report last month. New hires were told to consider becoming yoga instructors or going on safaris for US$20,000.
Employees chosen to join Bain’s new subsidised leave programme in China can also work for another organisation as long as there is no conflict of interest, and receive up to 40 per cent of their base salaries at Bain if the outside work pays less than 25 per cent of their normal compensation, sources said.
Bain is one of the earliest American consulting firms to establish a foothold in China. Its website shows that it has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Additional reporting by Lilian Zhang
