China, which introduced new labor regulations on January 1, 2008 (see article n° 070676), is beginning to witness the accumulation of worrisome signals in the employment sector. According to Cai Fang, director of the economics institute on population and labor, the abundant offer of cheap labor, in part guarantor of low Chinese wages, should stabilize by 2010 and decline by 2020. The surplus of 200 million migrants from country areas in the 90’s, has dropped by 50 million in the present decade. While China records an official unemployment rate of 4.3% (a figure which concerns only towns), the urban and industrial areas should offer only 40 million new jobs by 2010, hence a deficit of 10 million jobs.
Despite a working population of around 760 million, China will probably encounter recruitment problems of skilled workers in the coming years. At the same time, insufficient job creation and the new labor laws should push up wages. (Ref. 080537)
China, which introduced new labor regulations on January 1, 2008 (see article n° 070676), is beginning to witness the accumulation of worrisome signals in the employment sector. According to Cai Fang, director of the economics institute on population and
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