Low pay, no benefits keep migrants home
Source: Xinhua |
March 4, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE advantage of low costs for Chinese products is eroding as employers on the Chinese mainland suffer a shortage of labor, which, in turn, is compelling businesses to resort to technical upgrading for survival and development.
Migrant workers have contributed significantly to China's economic boom over the past three decades and number around 200 million nationwide.
Mo Rong, deputy head of the research institute for labor science under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said a survey by the ministry found 62 percent of migrant workers questioned said they would return to work after the Lunar New Year holiday (February 13-19), during which most migrant workers usually returned home. Thirty percent of those surveyed were undecided.
Data provided by the human resources market in eastern China's Zhejiang Province shows that in the first week after the Lunar New Year holiday, 408,600 jobs were offered, up 19 percent on the same period last year. But registered job-seekers numbered 106,800, down 28 percent.
The Zhejiang survey team under the National Bureau of Statistics found 52 percent of enterprises in the province said it was hard to recruit workers after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Fu Furong, head of the municipal trade union of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, said the city would see a labor shortage of 153,000 people this year, mainly in the clothing, headwear and footwear, ceramics, resin and food processing sectors.
In Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, the center of the nation's export base, the shortage is estimated at 150,000 this year, mainly for processing and manufacturing as well as modern and traditional services sectors. The annual shortage for Dongguan, also a leading exporter on the Pearl River Delta, is forecast at 200,000.
Meanwhile, Henan Province, a leading supplier of migrant workers, saw its annual labor increase at 1.1 million in 2009, down from 2 million in 2007 and 1.8 million in 2008.
Pay remain relatively low in labor-intensive enterprises in the economically developed coastal regions, where living costs are higher than other places. This accounts for labor outflow from the coastal areas.
Values and attitudes have changed among laborers born in the 1980s and 1990s. The new generation, estimated at 100 million, is more aware of their legal rights with employers, and has higher requirements doe income and chances for personal development. A slight increase in pay would not motivate them.
Zhao Chengbao, a job-seeker in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, weighed the costs of staying at home and leaving. He said if he earned 1,500 yuan (US$218) a month in Quanzhou, only 500 yuan would be left after deducting 500 yuan for food, 200 yuan for rent and other daily costs, including transport.
In addition to an average pay increase of 9 percent, according to the survey by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, many coastal enterprises are set to offer more favorable conditions to attract workers.
Wu Zhangwei, an official with the municipal trade union of Quanzhou, said the city allowed migrant workers to buy homes there after they had rented a house in the city for three years.
If a migrant worker in the city paid 3 yuan every month for health insurance, they would get annual medical and pharmaceutical coverage valued at 30,000 yuan from the city's medical welfare system. The worker could also enjoy 500,000-yuan insurance coverage for accidental injury.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
