Plants concerned about return of migrant workers

Updated: 2012-02-01 07:27

By Zhou Wenting and Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)

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"The gift money for those who return to work on time is around 1,000 yuan. Moreover, we offer a cash award from 100 yuan to 600 yuan for those who return and introduce their fellow farmers to the factory," said Zhou at the business in Zhejiang.

At Shenyang Luyuan labor market, the largest of its kind in Liaoning province, the turnover of migrant workers on Tuesday was 20 percent less than this time last year.

Lu Wenxue, director of the market, said this was because higher wages were now being offered to attract younger and more skilled migrants. He advised migrants born in the 1980s and 1990s to gain skills before entering the market.

Li Wei, 31, is expecting wages between 1,500-2,000 yuan per month for a job in Shenyang. Otherwise, he said he could go to South China to earn more.

In South China's Guangdong province, a major manufacturing hub in the south, a growing number of businesses are also facing a shortage of laborers after the Spring Festival.

"Only 30 percent of workers have returned," said Lin Wei, general manager of Big Tree Toys Co based in Shantou.

Lin, whose company had 150 workers last year, said the shortage of laborers could seriously affect their business this year.

"We will have to cancel some big overseas orders if not enough workers return soon," he said.

Sources with Guangdong provincial human resource and social security authorities predicted about 90 percent of migrant workers would return after Spring Festival.

"But I am not optimistic," said Lin. "Migrant workers now have more choices to work in their home provinces."

To prevent more workers from leaving the province, the authorities have raised the minimum wages by 13 percent this year.

"Businesses usually have a 20 percent loss this time every year but the number this year is higher," said Gu Yueming, deputy director of Shanghai SME Development and Service Center.

Gu said many migrant workers are put off by the high cost of living in big cities.

"Low-rent houses have been introduced to reduce cost for new workers in Shanghai but it's still far from affordable to manual laborers whose average pay is just more than 2,000 yuan a month," Gu said.

The separation of couples is another problem in keeping migrant workers, according to Gu.

"Although some employers have tried providing positions for both husband and wife, it's impractical for many others to follow the practice because of the gender preferences by different industries," he said. "For example, men are preferred for express delivery services and women more for work on the assembly line."

Zhang Jian, who had worked at the Shanghai wood factory for five years, opted to take up a new position with the company in his home province after weighing up the benefits.

"I can find a job in the new factory in Anhui now, where the pay is lower than what I got in Shanghai as a manual laborer," said Zhang, from Wuwei county. "But I can take good care of my family and don't have to worry about sending my daughter to a primary school in Shanghai."

He added it was very hard for country people to settle in the city and believed many would eventually return home. "The city dreams of many people in my village are fading," he added.

Wu Yong in Shenyang and Qian Ziliang in Shanghai contributed to this story.

China Daily

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