Layoffs in China Could Be Historic

The China Business Post reports that China Construction Bank will fire more than 100,000 workers over three years.

China Construction Bank is China’s third largest bank. It will be giving $870 million in severance pay to a third of its workers according to the report, also mentioned in Bloomberg News and the International Herald Tribune.

Construction Bank’s chief executive, Zhang Enzhao, actually started cutting employees in November. Before loosening up its government grip on the economy, China used to guarantee employees jobs, health care and housing at government-run companies. Now, the country is becoming more capitalistic. There’s high demand for some skilled and managerial employees, and at the same time, hundreds of thousands of other people are losing jobs.