Coastal Businesses Offer Competitive Benefit Packages to Prevent Labor Shortage

Zhang Hong plans to go back to work after the Spring Festival holiday at Huatong Color Spun Co., Ltd., a textile company based in the city of Shaoxing in east China's Zhejiang Province.

Having worked at the factory for nearly two years, Zhang has been pleased to receive the higher salary and greater benefits that her job offers in the coastal city.

"The salaries in my hometown have been rising, but the salary here is still a little bit higher. Plus, the factory owners treat us well," said the 30-year-old Zhang, who came to Shaoxing in 2007 from central China's Hubei Province with her husband, who also works for the factory.

Coastal private businesses, which have been faced with financing problems, high interest and a more competitive market in recent years, are now struggling with a severe labor shortage after years of enjoying cheap, plentiful labor.

China's rapidly developing inland provinces, on the other hand, have experienced an influx of labor, as migrant workers from these areas have become more reluctant to take jobs in coastal areas, far from home.

Some migrant workers from inland regions say they don't have the same sense of security as they did before.

"Five years ago, anyone could make money in Wenzhou (a coastal city in Zhejiang province), but the situation has changed. Working for a company that is caught in a debt crisis is not a promising choice," said Shi Xiaoyan, who works for a footwear company in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Private enterprises in Shaoxing need at least 1 million migrant workers each year to maintain their businesses. But after last year's Spring Festival, many of the city's recruiters returned home emptyhanded after searching for workers in inland provinces.

The Zhejiang Province Human Resources and Social Security Bureau in November 2009 set up a special office for migrant worker management, helping migrants secure jobs and safeguard their own interests. The move was intended to lure migrant workers to coastal cities.

"The fates of workers and enterprises are bound together. Companies can only develop when they ensure that their employees can work and live with dignity," said Chen Shida, head of the Zhejiang-based Research Institute of Labor and Social Security.

Chen said the era of turning a profit through low labor costs has come to an end in China's coastal regions, as migrant workers now have higher requirements in terms of working environments, salaries and benefit packages.

"We mainly hire couples and those referred by veteran workers, providing them with an apartment and a package that includes retirement, unemployment and maternity benefits, as well as medical and work injury insurance," said Yang Xiaohua, manager of Jiaxing Jackson Travel Products Co. Ltd.

The company employs more than 800 workers and manages to maintain a 90 percent retention rate each year. "As long as enterprises are willing to meet migrant workers' needs and take their interests into consideration, they will be able to hire enough people," said Yang.

Zhang said she and her husband have received an additional 600 yuan (95 U.S. dollars) each month since 2010 as a reward for their loyalty to the factory. The couple each work for an average of 12 hours daily, making them eligible for increased overtime pay. In 2011, when they brought their 7-year-old son to Shaoxing from their home in Hubei, the factory not only gave them a free apartment, but also arranged for their son to transfer to a nearby primary school.

"When we have problems, the factory does not try to help us solve them. Instead, they make sure we are not troubled in the first place," said Zhang, who said she was grateful that the factory arranged for her son and 10 other children of factory employees to study at the school.

Zhang's coworker Wang Wenna said the factory offers a "piety fund" to its employees, deducting 100 yuan from the monthly salaries of those who wish to participate and remitting 150 yuan to their parents' bank accounts.

"This basically means I earn 50 yuan extra each month. My parents are quite happy to receive the money and repeatedly tell me to work hard and do my best at the company," Wang said.

Wang said most couples working together at the factory are able to save more than 5,000 yuan each month, giving them a good reason to stick around.

"I feel at home here," said Zhang, despite living nearly 900 km from the town she grew up in.

Source: Xinhua