Urban businesses stressed by post-holiday labor shortages

(Ecns.cn) – Factory bosses and shop owners are now scrambling to lure migrant workers back to Beijing following the Spring Festival holiday. Many worry that those who made the annual trek home for the Chinese New Year may not return to work at all.

Their concern has become a "tradition" that occurs at the same time every year. However, this year's post-holiday labor shortage has been even worse than usual, and major metropolises such as Beijing and Guangzhou are feeling the pinch more than ever.

For the capital city, the periodic shortfall of workers mainly plagues household service providers, the service sector and manufacturing.

Migrant workers blame low wages, increasing daily expenses, a lack of basic rights and pressure from their aging parents to work closer to home as the major reasons for not coming back. And who could blame them?

Low season

On Feb. 10, 2012, Xu Pingsheng, a staff member at a Beijing-based equipment company, was upset because he couldn't find a single employee for his company that day, reports the Beijing News.

With all the application forms left blank, Xu glumly took down the poster he had put up to attract jobseekers. Xu had believed that a monthly salary of 2,500 yuan (US$396.5) for a basic position wasn't too low, but nobody had shown any interest.

In the following days, the equipment company sent more staff to different recruitment markets in Beijing, casting a wider net in search of workers from other districts. But after two weeks they had recruited less than 20 workers, far from their goal of 60.

On Feb. 11, as he squeezed out of Beijing West Railway Station, Zhang Huaxing, a migrant worker from Xinyang, Henan Province, was stopped by recruiters who asked him if he wanted a job.

Zhang was promised work immediately and could start the next day. But the recruiters were disappointed: Zhang had only returned to Beijing to quit a previous job and collect his things before going back to his hometown.

According to Zhang, it was the third year he had been in Beijing, where he had a full-time job that paid him a monthly salary of 2,500 yuan (US$396.5). Yet the fact that he never felt like he belonged in the city, especially as a manual laborer, had caused him to leave for good.

No labor, no business

Prior to 2012, whenever the Chinese Lunar New Year came to an end, large numbers of migrant workers would seek jobs at recruitment markets around Beijing West Railway Station, Liuliqiao Intercity Bus Station and Lianhuachi Long Distance Bus Station.

This year, however, the situation has been unfamiliar even to frequent recruiters in Beijing, as the endless streams of job-seekers are no longer to be seen.

Mr. Qiu, director of the Hufangqiao Labor Market, says the market mainly serves low-end industries. In past years, there would be increasing numbers of migrant job-seekers after the seventh day of the first lunar month, but this year the swelling demand has clearly outstripped the labor supply, according to the Beijing News.

Even after raising salaries by 300 yuan (US$47.6) per month, one restaurant owner in Xicheng District complains it is still difficult to find help.

Mr. Wang, manager of an express station in Dongcheng District, says he has been short of deliverymen. As all courier companies are raising salaries for their employees in China, Wang says he will have to sell or close the station if his employees continue to ask for higher payment, since he is already struggling to make ends meet.

Wang says that if the labor shortages continue, many companies may go bankrupt. In desperation, employers are even paying brokers to hunt for workers to fill their labor-intensive manufacturing jobs.

Currently in Beijing, job-hiring advertisements can be seen everywhere, from bus stations to shops to tourist areas. The vacancies range from security guards, waiters and cooks all the way up to highly technical posts such as computer programmers.

Forced out

Leaders at the Hufangqiao Labor Market say the situation is different this year, even though labor shortages are a common problem after the Spring Festival holiday.

Some blame the weather for the situation, saying that freezing weather has hit Beijing over and over again during the Spring Festival season, causing many migrant workers to hold off until it gets warmer.

But this is clearly not the main reason. As the cost of living continues to rise in Beijing, salaries are not as competitive as before, and modest wage hikes cannot keep pace with soaring rents and daily expenses.

In the past, migrant workers did not question pay and benefits, but now it's their primary concern. If the salary is not satisfying, many migrant workers would rather find jobs closer to home, as long as they can make ends meet.

To some extent, many migrant workers are being forced out of Beijing, because they can hardly live normal lives on such low pay. As a result, the government should take dramatic steps to ensure that migrant workers have the same rights as their urban counterparts, in order to increase their incentives to stay in the cities.

This year, provinces such as Zhejiang and Guangdong have raised minimum wages by more than 10 percent to prevent workers from leaving. Yet many doubt that it will be enough.