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China faces big labor shortfall
By Bai Xu, Cao Yan and Zhang Yao |
February 24, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
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MANY traditionally prosperous regions, like the Yangtze and the Pearl river deltas, are experiencing labor shortages.
In Guangdong, more than one million workers are needed, which represents around 5 percent of the total number of laborers in the province, said Ou Zhenzhi, head of the human resources and social security department of the Guangdong provincial government.
In Yiwu of Zhejiang Province, a well-known manufacturing hub for small commodities, there?s another shortage. Representatives of 11 companies that needed nearly 1,000 workers went to northwestern China to find workers, but they brought back only eight workers.
China has between 220 to 230 million migrant workers, including 140 million working outside their hometowns. China has experienced a labor shortage for the past seven or eight years. Lu Jiehua, a sociology professor at Peking University, attributed the shortage to the development of inland areas.
òIn the past, the prosperous Yangtze River Delta could create lucrative jobs for migrant workers,ó said Lu. òBut now, the economic level is rising dramatically in southwest China?s Sichuan Province and Chongqing municipality.... And this diverts a large number of migrant workers.ó
Many enterprises have set up branches in central and western parts of China, which have created more job opportunities for migrant workers in their hometowns. Foxconn, the world?s largest electronics contractor, for instance, opened a plant in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, last October and another in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, in December. Both Sichuan and Henan are traditional labor bases in China.
Children are another reason migrants refuse to work far from home. People born in the 1980s used to comprise the greatest number of migrants. But as they came of age to marry and started having children, they became reluctant to leave home.
Wei Dongwei from Henan had been working in Yiwu for six years. This year, his company promised to raise his salary to 2,600 yuan a month, but he decided to stay at home with his four-year-old son.
òIn 2009 when I came back during the Spring Festival, my son didn?t recognize me,ó he said bitterly.
A survey by the All-China Women?s Federation showed that China has about 58 million left-behind children in rural areas, of whom 40 million are below age 14.
In Guangdong, more than one million workers are needed, which represents around 5 percent of the total number of laborers in the province, said Ou Zhenzhi, head of the human resources and social security department of the Guangdong provincial government.
In Yiwu of Zhejiang Province, a well-known manufacturing hub for small commodities, there?s another shortage. Representatives of 11 companies that needed nearly 1,000 workers went to northwestern China to find workers, but they brought back only eight workers.
China has between 220 to 230 million migrant workers, including 140 million working outside their hometowns. China has experienced a labor shortage for the past seven or eight years. Lu Jiehua, a sociology professor at Peking University, attributed the shortage to the development of inland areas.
òIn the past, the prosperous Yangtze River Delta could create lucrative jobs for migrant workers,ó said Lu. òBut now, the economic level is rising dramatically in southwest China?s Sichuan Province and Chongqing municipality.... And this diverts a large number of migrant workers.ó
Many enterprises have set up branches in central and western parts of China, which have created more job opportunities for migrant workers in their hometowns. Foxconn, the world?s largest electronics contractor, for instance, opened a plant in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, last October and another in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, in December. Both Sichuan and Henan are traditional labor bases in China.
Children are another reason migrants refuse to work far from home. People born in the 1980s used to comprise the greatest number of migrants. But as they came of age to marry and started having children, they became reluctant to leave home.
Wei Dongwei from Henan had been working in Yiwu for six years. This year, his company promised to raise his salary to 2,600 yuan a month, but he decided to stay at home with his four-year-old son.
òIn 2009 when I came back during the Spring Festival, my son didn?t recognize me,ó he said bitterly.
A survey by the All-China Women?s Federation showed that China has about 58 million left-behind children in rural areas, of whom 40 million are below age 14.
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