(Yicai Global) March 13 -- The Covid-19 epidemic has caused China's pharmaceutical and media sectors to raise wages through overtime payments, while those in the manufacturing, education and financial sectors have plunged as their workers idle, according to the results of a study that issued yesterday.

The report by the Smart Salary Wage analysis platform operated by Xinzhi Internet Technology Shanghai spans nearly 1,500 companies in various fields, half from first-tier cities, 30 percent from second-tier ones, and 20 percent from third-tier and below. The data is based on last month's salary paid early this month, which not only represents a complete payment cycle, but also charts the month most affected by the resumption of work following the extended Lunar New Year holiday and the epidemic's peak period.

Production of epidemic prevention and control supplies and press coverage of the outbreak have lifted overtime pay, while allowances have also increased in the pharmaceutical and media sectors, leading to rising overall earnings.

Compensation in the manufacturing, education and financial fields has almost halved, by contrast, with industry plunging 72.3 percent and the financial field falling about 64 percent. Pay packets in education were down around 60 percent.

Wages in the consumer goods industry shed only 38.21 percent, propped up by e-commerce, while income from offline retail sales dropped nearly to zero. The masses of inventory that piled up over the Spring Festival will only add to the pressure on brick-and-mortars' bottom line, and the outlook is still less than rosy for any lightening here in the coming months.

Salaries in the financial sector soon returned to normal in the wake of the 2003 SARS coronavirus epidemic, while those in manufacturing rose on overtime pay from capacity increases, per the report. Education and training recovered more slowly, whereas real estate took nearly one year to recuperate from that bout.

Editor: Ben Armour