Sunday, May 08, 2005
Labour shortage... in China?!?
I quote, "It might seem incomprehensible that a nation with one-fifth of the human race can suffer a shortage of workers."
Jax
Since last year, the Guangzhou-centered Pearl River Delta (PRD), a dominant economic locomotive in China and a magnet for migrant workers in outlying regions, has been reporting a severe shortage of workers. Encouraged by the official ballyhoo of a steep pay rise, many have flocked into the region to try their luck. However, as Asia Times Online found recently, wages after the purported 20-30% raise are still very low when compared to the local standard of living.
As China's economy continues to boom, the demand for labor is growing. At the same time, the PRD, a previously labor-intensive manufacturing center, is evolving into a technology-intensive one. Calling this the result of a structural transformation, Wang Guanyu, an official from the Provincial Labor and Social Security Department, said the region needs a large number of skilled workers, not common laborers.
It might seem incomprehensible that a nation with one-fifth of the human race can suffer a shortage of workers; but the main reason is low wages. Chen Huai, deputy director of the Research Institute of Market Economics, told official mouthpiece People's Daily last August that the PRD had witnessed a meager pay rise of 68 yuan ($8.1) per month in the past 12 years. Incredibly, after taking inflation into account, this was effectively a pay cut.
Recently, news of a 20-30% pay rise in the PRD made headlines in Hunan, Hubei and Henan - three populous, underdeveloped provinces in the Chinese interior. AToL journalists were dispatched to Dongguan, a PRD city renowned for its manufacturing industries, to report on the impact. They found a sudden spate of "want" ads in Dongguan, all of them seeking "skilled workers". AToL spoke to a migrant worker named Li, from Guangdong's neighboring province of Guangxi, who is already working as a lathe operator. Li, who had gone to the job market to try to find positions for other workers in his hometown, said: "Technicians are paid 20% more, as they are in demand. But for unskilled laborers, the situation remains gloomy." (Link)
Jax
Since last year, the Guangzhou-centered Pearl River Delta (PRD), a dominant economic locomotive in China and a magnet for migrant workers in outlying regions, has been reporting a severe shortage of workers. Encouraged by the official ballyhoo of a steep pay rise, many have flocked into the region to try their luck. However, as Asia Times Online found recently, wages after the purported 20-30% raise are still very low when compared to the local standard of living.
As China's economy continues to boom, the demand for labor is growing. At the same time, the PRD, a previously labor-intensive manufacturing center, is evolving into a technology-intensive one. Calling this the result of a structural transformation, Wang Guanyu, an official from the Provincial Labor and Social Security Department, said the region needs a large number of skilled workers, not common laborers.
It might seem incomprehensible that a nation with one-fifth of the human race can suffer a shortage of workers; but the main reason is low wages. Chen Huai, deputy director of the Research Institute of Market Economics, told official mouthpiece People's Daily last August that the PRD had witnessed a meager pay rise of 68 yuan ($8.1) per month in the past 12 years. Incredibly, after taking inflation into account, this was effectively a pay cut.
Recently, news of a 20-30% pay rise in the PRD made headlines in Hunan, Hubei and Henan - three populous, underdeveloped provinces in the Chinese interior. AToL journalists were dispatched to Dongguan, a PRD city renowned for its manufacturing industries, to report on the impact. They found a sudden spate of "want" ads in Dongguan, all of them seeking "skilled workers". AToL spoke to a migrant worker named Li, from Guangdong's neighboring province of Guangxi, who is already working as a lathe operator. Li, who had gone to the job market to try to find positions for other workers in his hometown, said: "Technicians are paid 20% more, as they are in demand. But for unskilled laborers, the situation remains gloomy." (Link)
