Asia Times has a more detailed piece than the earlier one in the NYT on the labor shortage in China. It indicates the shortage may also be due to the difficulty of recruiting or recalling migrant workers for uncertain short term employment:
"Labor shortages and rising wages in the big coastal manufacturing hubs give only half the news, said Pauline Loong, senior vice president in charge of China policy and risk research at CIMB-GK Securities (HK). 'The real story is about the supply and demand distortions from massive layoffs at the height of the financial meltdown and the skewed demand now for short-term staff as employers worry that orders could dry up again,' she said in a research note published on Monday. "Bankers that CIMB-GK Securities (HK) estimate that one in six Hong Kong-owned factories in Guangdong province collapsed during the worst of the crisis. The closures put 1.6 million migrants out of work, forcing them to return to their villages. "Loong said the higher wages on offer reflected the premium paid for short-term workers. 'Given export market uncertainties, employing short-term workers is more cost-effective than longer-term hires, even with the temp premium,' she said. "More money must also be offered to lure migrants who now have a choice of working closer to home as more jobs are being created under the government's rural stimulus programs, Loong said. "She believed that if export demand continued to recover, employer confidence would rebound. 'Shortages would ease as they would be prepared to offer migrants long-term contracts and a more competitive salary,' she said." http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/LC03Cb01.html _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
