Moody’s, “don’t go to the office.” Employee Anxiety in China: Why

Moody’s Investors Service advised employees in China to stay out of the office and work from home this week, after the rating agency downgraded its outlook to negative from stable, while maintaining its A1 long-term Chinese sovereign rating. The agency cited lingering concerns about medium-term growth and the continued shrinkage of the real estate sector, which will remain weaker than the broader economy. Some officials at US credit rating agencies in Beijing and Shanghai told the Financial Times that the move comes amid fears of a possible backlash from Beijing.

Moody’s decision highlights the distress of many foreign companies doing business in the world’s second-largest economy, where some have faced police raids, been forced to keep employees at home and faced arrests as tensions rise between China and the United States. . According to the sources, some Moody’s country department heads told advisors that non-administrative staff in Beijing and Shanghai should not come into the office this week. “They didn’t give us the reason… but everyone knows why,” a China-based Moody’s employee told the FT about the work-from-home order. “We are afraid of government inspections,” he explained.

Officials later reported that Moody’s also advised analysts in Hong Kong to temporarily avoid travel to mainland China. And they suggested that working from home could prevent Chinese authorities from questioning employees if they decided to raid the agency, although this is currently considered unlikely. A Moody’s spokesperson commented on the matter: “Our commitment to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the ratings process is paramount and therefore we are unable to comment on any internal discussions relating to credit ratings or specific issuers.”