Hiring expectations among employers on the Chinese mainland reached a 10-year high for the first quarter of this year as 72 percent of companies planned to recruit - a sharp rise from 65 percent in the previous quarter, a survey revealed yesterday.

The figure, much higher than the 49 percent in the first quarter of last year, is expected to grow substantially over the longer term, showed the quarterly survey by human resource company Hudson Highland Group, which covered 600 employment decision makers in all major industry sectors on the mainland.

The media, public relations and advertising sector reported the steepest rise as hiring expectations have more than trebled over the past year from 21 percent to 67 percent.

"In this increasingly competitive talent market, employers are offering higher bonuses and salary increments as well as using a variety of strategies to enhance loyalty and retain staff," said Mark Carriban, Asian managing director of Hudson.

More than half of the surveyed employers said they have employee recognition programs and offer high performance incentives, monetary incentives as well as education and training to retain staff and enhance loyalty.

Meanwhile, 92 percent of respondents said they will pay bonuses for 2010, an increase of 8 percentage points from the previous year. Mainland employers are likely to pay higher bonuses than those in other Asian markets, with 20 percent planning to offer a bonus worth more than 20 percent of annual salary.