Top Biz News

'Made in China' losing its edge in low costs

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-02 10:57

Labor shortages

Mo Rong, a senior researcher with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, attributed the labor shortages to greater demand driven by the economic recovery and growth in orders received by exporters.

Pay remained relatively low in labor-intensive enterprises in the economically-developed coastal regions, where living costs were higher than other places. This accounted for labor outflow from the coastal areas.

Values and attitudes had changed among laborers born in the 1980s and 1990s, which was another factor behind the outflow of labor from regions along the coast, mainly Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu) and the Pearl River Delta.

The new generation, estimated at 100 million, was more aware of their legal rights with employers, and had higher requirements of income and chances for personal development. They also had needs in cultural and spiritual terms, said Mo. A slight increase in pay would not move 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 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.

Huang Shaojun, 45, a carpenter from Chenzhou, central China's Hunan province, who had worked in the southern city of Guangzhou for many years, decided to look for a job in the provincial capital of Changsha this year.

"There are more jobs offered in Changsha. I want to find a job with light work load," he said.

Though he could earn 1,800-2,000 yuan a month in Guangzhou, he would rather choose Changsha for a 1,500-yuan monthly wage.

Li Xiaoli, head of rural labor, in Meizhou, Sichuan, also a traditional labor force supplier in southwest China, said the city needed more workers for the fast-growing local economy. In the city's Dongpo district alone, 20,000 workers would be needed this year.

Recruitment drives

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.

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 medical and pharmaceutical costs valued at 30,000-yuan covered from the city's medical welfare system every year. The migrant worker could also enjoy 500,000-yuan insurance cover for accidental injury.

Suzhou Ju Teng International Holdings Ltd in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province, has established a library and recreational zone for staff and earmarked more than 1 million yuan for lottery tickets for them every Spring Festival. The luckiest would get a reward of 10,000 yuan.

The company, which needs 5,000 workers this year, has recruited 2,000 so far.

Compal Electronics Technology (Kunshan) Co, Ltd, a subsidiary funded by leading laptop computer manufacturer Compal in Kunshan of Jiangsu province, has raised the salary for each of its productive employees by 15 percent. It established cooperative relationship with occupational training schools in Siyang of Jiangsu and Guangyuan of Sichuan. Up to 400 trainees from one of the schools, which specialize in electronics, mechanics and computer science, will enter the Compal Electronics Technology.

The Ju Teng International Holdings Ltd. has signed an agreement with a technical worker training school in Yuzhou of Henan. It will annually inject 300,000 to 500,000 yuan into the school, and hopes the school can provide 3,000-5,000 workers every year.