Hunan, which neighbours Guangdong to the north, is the latest province to report a severe shortage of labour, following reports from the coastal cities in Guangdong of serious labour shortages in early 2005, according to a government report.
The rural migrant labour force of Hunan, the second largest province exporting rural migrant labour, had an annual migrant labour force of 8.8 million in 2004. On 17 February, the Dongfang Xinbao newspaper in Hunan reported that according to a survey recently conducted by Hunan Provincial Labour and Social Security Department, the province was suffering from a labour shortage with the problem chiefly in those areas where the processing industries where located. The report said some cities in the southern part of Hunan, such as Yongzhou, Chenzhou and Hengyang, lacked 15,000 to 20,000 workers.
The government survey pointed out three major reasons for the regional labour shortage. First, the working conditions in local labour-intensive factories which produced shoes, toys and garments were very bad, with long working hours and low wages, and many cases of employers withholding wages for several months.
Second, there is a structural imbalance between the skills needed by industries and those looking for employment. It was very easy for young people between 18 and 25 years old to find jobs, but it was extremely difficult for people over the age of 40 to get a job. On the other hand, there was a lack of skilled labour and many employers found it difficult to hire any workers for jobs like wielding and car repairing even if they would offer a monthly wage of 2,000 yuan.
Finally, rural migrant workers usually found jobs in the cities through the help of their relatives and friends. But many employers complain that they found it difficult to hire suitable workers, due to the inability to reach labour.
22 February 2006