The new migrants are different from the older generation in their expectation for compensation as well as job positions; the old hands were not choosy about salary levels when looking for jobs, but the new view of worthwhile employment has caused a shortage of hands in various trades.

The catering trade in Beijing is having difficulty finding an adequate labor pool. The long work hours, low income, high intensity labor, and age limits for the positions all make keeping staff a challenge. Since personnel turnover in the industry is high, in general the bosses are reluctant to commit to insurance and contracts. The young migrant views this kind of job as the bottom of the barrel. After the financial crisis, many migrant workers came back to support recovering industrial enterprises, intensifying the “shortage of hands” in catering.

It is also difficult to hire a domestic in Beijing. According to new rules, a servant’s work hours are limited to 12 hours a day for no less than RMB 1,500 monthly, which is to include four days off. Even so, there are few migrant workers racing to fill these jobs. Many families in Beijing regard the ‘A’yi” as a member of the family who is entitled to a good life and all the modern facilities. They often travel with their employers, accompany their charges to concerts, and just hang out with them and eat pizza. Even so, young and capable household servants are in great demand. In fact, employees accepting an hourly wage of RMB 12 are thin on the ground and nannies demanding a monthly salary of RMB 5,000-6,000 are not unknown. “In our childhood, we were the center of the family. So when I arrived at boarding school, I didn’t know to say ‘thanks’ to anyone. Later, I became good at building respectful relationships, but still… I cannot serve others,” said Zhang Qianru. Obviously, the new breed of migrant worker places equal emphasis on economic and social parity. Then, the inevitable: a chronic shortage of household servants, and jobs with taxing work conditions left unfilled.

Entanglements and Struggles

As a Beijinger, Zhang Qianru’s lifestyle has changed, almost without her realizing it. She grants herself the luxury of a daily bath, and her lodgings are air-conditioned. Although her salary is not lavish, she sometimes treats her friends to dinner. Some days she is grateful for her affluent city life; others she is kicking herself for unnecessary waste. “I want to live a low-carbon life, and wonder if it is necessary to shower every day. But not to do so seems contrary to convention. The city always makes people go adrift. When we meet up for a restaurant dinner, I hope to go Dutch so as to avoid waste. My grandmother is reluctant to throw away leftovers even after two days. But here people never eat leftovers, saying it’s bad for their health. Actually, the more fussily one lives, the weaker one becomes. I have been careless in my life, but I am as strong as a horse,” sighs Zhang Qianru, tucking an additional shirt and pair of slacks into her bag. She is not accustomed to the low temperatures in air-conditioned offices and has to bundle up so as not to suffer muscle cramps in her legs at night.

In truth Zhang Qianru has soured on the city. “When I first came to Beijing, many people envied me, but I’m not happy here. Why? Too fast a pace of life and too many rich people perhaps? It’s often something insignificant that makes me feel inferior. For instance, to buy an ordinary apartment would cost RMB one million, which is beyond my reach. Beneath the beautiful and noisy surface I often glimpse my status at the bottom stratum of this city. I work hard, but it isn’t paying off. I can’t achieve the ease of other urbanites. And city changes its worker-bees; we can’t go home again, but we can’t get a foothold here either. I’m always preoccupied with the entanglements and struggles of this life.”