New post aimed at building job skills

SHENYANG: This city's government is working to create a new public sector position with a larger pay scale in an attempt to provide more incentives to workers to develop their skills.

"Improving workers' skills is vital to our manufacturing sector. The shortage of qualified workers is getting to be a problem," said Yang Zhenfu, the chief of the Shenyang Federation of Trade Unions.

Yang said the new position, entitled chief skilled worker, would be introduced in all 84 public sectors, including military industry, public transportation and urban construction. Yang said such workers could earn up to 300,000 yuan ($38,691) a year.