New | Fears for real estate jobs amid cyclical downturn in China

The departure of some of the real estate industry's most prominent senior executives in China has deepened concerns as the cyclical downturn unfolds, despite signs of recent market recovery in top-tier cities under strong policy support.

Mainland Chinese media reported last week that Cai Xuemei, vice-president in charge of marketing and sales at Shimao Property Holdings, has resigned and will formally leave the mid-cap developer she has served since 2011. She is the latest in a slew of high-profile departures since the once-sizzling real estate industry slid into a downturn last February. The markets in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai are recovering now after the central government cut taxes and interest rates and pumped trillions of yuan of liquidity into the economy.

But the widespread worry is that an unprecedented glut in the housing sector, which absorbs 15 per cent of China's urban jobs, will take about five years to clear and force developers to cut down their headcounts, especially in construction, marketing and sales departments.

"Traditional project managers are no longer in need," said Beijing-based head hunter Carrie Ren, who specialises in the real estate industry. "Developers are trying to recruit senior managers who have financial background or have experience in the internet world."

Funding is the lifeline for developers while the internet is rapidly becoming a platform to market their projects and even provides a future for their restructuring into new businesses.

Cai has more than doubled Shimao's annual contracted sales revenues to more than 70 billion yuan during her stay. However, as growth in the industry is now expected to slow down after breakneck expansion in the past decade, almost all Chinese developers, including her company, are cutting back on construction this year and many have lowered their sales target to single-digit increases from previous years' annual goal of 20 to 30 per cent.