A glimpse of who works in the luxury industry

A woman passes by a Louis Vuitton store in Yichang, Hubei province, Aug 12, 2012. [Liu Jiao/Asianewsphoto]

Luxury always draws much attention but one might not know as much about those who work in and drive this industry.

A report released by the Fortune Character Institute and the Shanghai Donghao Human Resources Co Ltd shows that half of the respondents earn a monthly salary between 5,000 yuan ($817.2) to 10,000 yuan. This group of people is mainly made up of salespeople. The report is based on 197 questionnaires, in-depth interviews, phone interviews, email interviews and literature reading.

Source: Fortune Character Institute and Shanghai Donghao Human Resources Co Ltd

Twenty-six percent of the respondents earn a monthly salary of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan. This group is mainly made up of outlet superintendents and entry-level managers.

Three percent of the respondents earn more than 30,000 yuan each month and they are mainly higher-level managers. Those in charge of big-brand luxury companies' business in China earn an average monthly salary of 150,000 yuan and an average yearly salary between 1.5 million yuan and 2 million yuan.

Professional buyers, outlet superintendents, customer service managers, maintenance professionals and researchers are five types of people in the luxury industry, whose salaries have high growth potential. Currently, professional buyers have an average annual salary of 600,000 yuan and may catch up with those in charge of big-brand companies' China business, according to the report.

"Having better opportunities" is the top reason that people in the luxury industry change their jobs, followed by personal reasons such as getting married or going to study overseas. Frequent poaching and headhunting is why luxury industry salaries have been on the rise for years.

There are 140,000 people who work directly in the luxury industry, undertaking positions such as design, branding and retail. There are another 350,000 people who work in industries that are closely connected with the luxury industry, including logistics, real estate and tourism.

Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Rolls-Royce are the top three brands attracting those who want to work or who have already worked in the luxury industry. However, these three brands lag far behind in the 'employee best-performing' ranking. Breguet, Blancpain and Tag Heuer are the top three brands that have the best employees, according to the report.

Zhou Ting, head of the institute, said that employees may, to some extent, decide the future of luxury brands.