GUANGZHOU: Many workers in this Guangdong provincial capital are facing salary cuts or job losses, as both the private and the public sectors struggle in the midst of the economic crisis.

As many as 40 percent of the State-owned enterprises (SOEs), or government-controlled shareholding companies, have reduced or plan to reduce staff salaries in the prosperous southern metropolis, according to a recent survey conducted by Guangzhou Urban Survey and Research Center.

More than 50 percent of the city's privately-operated companies have cut jobs in the past months, according to the survey.