New generation of migrants prefers the assembly line to the construction site
In a departure from their predecessors, a new generation of Chinese migrant workers is showing a greater preference for working in manufacturing rather than in the construction industry.
The 2013 National Migrant Worker Monitoring Survey, released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, reported a total of 269 million migrant workers in China at the end of 2013, a 2.4 percent year-on-year increase. Of these workers, 46.6 percent were born after 1980.
About 39 percent of the younger workers are employed in the manufacturing sector, while only 26.5 percent of older workers work in this industry. On the other hand, only 14.5 percent of the younger generation toils in the construction industry, less than half the number of the senior workers.
