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05-03-2014, 05:30 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
Labor shortage looms in Dongguan
By Chen Xia
China.org March 4, 2014
http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20140304/8c89a590f56e147f764219.jpg
Female workers are unwilling to work here because they don't want people to assume they are involved in the sex trade. [photo / China.org.cn]
Dongguan's industrial zone got busy once again in early February. Factories started to hire workers in large numbers to fill the job vacancies left by those exiting the city before the Spring Festival to reunite with their families in other cities.
For Dongguan, also known as the "world's factory," labor shortage proves a headache every year around this time, but this year, it's even worse because of the recent crackdown on the city's sex trade.
"Female workers are unwilling to work here because they don't want people to assume they are involved in the sex trade", said Yuan Mingren, an adviser to a Taiwanese business association in Dongguan.
Statistics show that the city is now short 100,000 workers, but local officials and entrepreneurs denied the impending arrival of any economic downturn.
According to official statistics, a labor shortage currently occurs in industries such as electronics, catering, lodging, shoe manufacturing, metal mold and garment producing, while high-tech companies seem to have no trouble recruiting new employees whatsoever. After Spring Festival, 98.8 percent of companies across the Songshan Lake High-tech Zone are in operation, and 89.9 percent of their employees have returned to work as expected.
The current labor shortage is mainly caused by the uprising of companies in other regions across China, explained the HR manager of a local labor dispatch agency. "Take Jiangsu as an example," he said. "Factories there can give a worker 16 yuan (US$2.6) per hour, but in Dongguan, the pay is no more than 13 yuan. Workers are moving to other regions."
This theory was echoed by Zhang Ming, who decided to return to his home in Hainan Province after having worked for a Dongguan leather company for three years. "My pay remained unchanged for three years -- 12.5 yuan an hour," he said. "The pay in my hometown is similar to that in Dongguan, but I'm much closer to my family."
The different situation of the manufacturing and high-tech industries at the moment clearly reflects Dongguan's economic transformation. Last year, the tertiary industry contributed to 53 percent to the city's overall GDP. The city's mayor Yuan Baocheng said recently that Dongguan's GDP growth will be maintained at some 9 percent in 2014.
Labor shortage has been a problem for many years, and it's still too early to say whether or not this year's situation has been caused by the crackdown, according to Cai Xiaomei, senior manager of a Guangdong labor market.
Employment is related to a company's operations, rather than to the crackdown on the city's sex trade, local officials said.
However, the crackdown has nonetheless damaged Dongguan's reputation. "Another region launched a campaign against prostitution, but it was reported as a ‘Dongguan-style crackdown on sex trade.' Why mention us?" questioned one official. "We have made many achievements, but bad news travels fast."
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?176493-Alert!-Labor-shortage-looms-in-Dongguan-(Only-prostitutes-need-to-apply)&goto=newpost).
Labor shortage looms in Dongguan
By Chen Xia
China.org March 4, 2014
http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20140304/8c89a590f56e147f764219.jpg
Female workers are unwilling to work here because they don't want people to assume they are involved in the sex trade. [photo / China.org.cn]
Dongguan's industrial zone got busy once again in early February. Factories started to hire workers in large numbers to fill the job vacancies left by those exiting the city before the Spring Festival to reunite with their families in other cities.
For Dongguan, also known as the "world's factory," labor shortage proves a headache every year around this time, but this year, it's even worse because of the recent crackdown on the city's sex trade.
"Female workers are unwilling to work here because they don't want people to assume they are involved in the sex trade", said Yuan Mingren, an adviser to a Taiwanese business association in Dongguan.
Statistics show that the city is now short 100,000 workers, but local officials and entrepreneurs denied the impending arrival of any economic downturn.
According to official statistics, a labor shortage currently occurs in industries such as electronics, catering, lodging, shoe manufacturing, metal mold and garment producing, while high-tech companies seem to have no trouble recruiting new employees whatsoever. After Spring Festival, 98.8 percent of companies across the Songshan Lake High-tech Zone are in operation, and 89.9 percent of their employees have returned to work as expected.
The current labor shortage is mainly caused by the uprising of companies in other regions across China, explained the HR manager of a local labor dispatch agency. "Take Jiangsu as an example," he said. "Factories there can give a worker 16 yuan (US$2.6) per hour, but in Dongguan, the pay is no more than 13 yuan. Workers are moving to other regions."
This theory was echoed by Zhang Ming, who decided to return to his home in Hainan Province after having worked for a Dongguan leather company for three years. "My pay remained unchanged for three years -- 12.5 yuan an hour," he said. "The pay in my hometown is similar to that in Dongguan, but I'm much closer to my family."
The different situation of the manufacturing and high-tech industries at the moment clearly reflects Dongguan's economic transformation. Last year, the tertiary industry contributed to 53 percent to the city's overall GDP. The city's mayor Yuan Baocheng said recently that Dongguan's GDP growth will be maintained at some 9 percent in 2014.
Labor shortage has been a problem for many years, and it's still too early to say whether or not this year's situation has been caused by the crackdown, according to Cai Xiaomei, senior manager of a Guangdong labor market.
Employment is related to a company's operations, rather than to the crackdown on the city's sex trade, local officials said.
However, the crackdown has nonetheless damaged Dongguan's reputation. "Another region launched a campaign against prostitution, but it was reported as a ‘Dongguan-style crackdown on sex trade.' Why mention us?" questioned one official. "We have made many achievements, but bad news travels fast."
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?176493-Alert!-Labor-shortage-looms-in-Dongguan-(Only-prostitutes-need-to-apply)&goto=newpost).