In Dongguan, Guangdong, where China's processing industry is well-developed, a large number of migrant workers from other provinces have recently gathered. Due to the closure of a large number of factories, the local labor force has been oversupplied. Local people said that due to the serious shortage of orders, the starting time of work cannot be guaranteed, and the hourly salary of temporary workers is only 9 yuan, while the government stipulates that the hourly minimum wage is more than 20 yuan.
Since the Chinese government announced the lifting of the epidemic lockdown measures in December last year, the economic development and employment situation have not been as prosperous as the authorities expected. On the contrary, businesses closed down, layoffs, and unemployment was severe. Last year, the official youth unemployment rate reached 20%. But with a labor glut this year, many factories are hiring only temporary workers. A video circulated on the Internet last week showed a group of young people from Guizhou queuing up to apply for a job in Dongguan. An intermediary shouted at the queue, 9 yuan an hour, and the onlookers looked sideways at him: "9 yuan, 9 yuan an hour , If you can’t accept it, carry your luggage and let me go.”
In fact, in June last year, many local enterprises no longer recruited regular employees, but switched to temporary workers at 9 yuan per hour. As a result, the company saved the "five insurances and one housing fund" paid to the Social Security Bureau: "I just said that you understand, 9 yuan an hour. Let me reiterate the salary for everyone, 9 yuan an hour, you can accept it Just do what you want, go upstairs with me to sign the contract, and then you can join the job tomorrow.”
Temporary workers at 9 yuan an hour appeared in various places in the middle of last year
After the Lunar New Year, many migrant workers rushed to Guangdong to find work. A netizen surnamed Zhao who is looking for a job in Hengli Town, Dongguan, told this station on Tuesday that many of his friends were laid off by companies that suddenly closed: "It's really a pity that the factory closed as soon as it said it would close, and they will lose their jobs again. Come here I was a little surprised and couldn't believe it. I used to come here to work, how could this happen, and now the building is empty."
The minimum wage in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other provinces is 22 yuan per hour.
In Suzhou, the central city of Jiangsu's "Yangtze River Delta", a group of young people from other provinces thought they would be able to re-employ after the end of the epidemic control measures, but found that their monthly salary was very low. A video shooter said: "Many people think that the wages are low, so they leave and go back to their hometown. It is too difficult to find a job. I never thought that it would be so difficult to find a job with a 985 degree. I used to work in an Internet company. Software testing, he was laid off on New Year's Day last year. Many people said that they are not afraid of losing their jobs if they are capable, but after looking for a job for more than half a month after the year, they only received one interview notice. In the past, many HRs contacted him as long as they refreshed their resumes."
University grad out of work for five months complains about containment measures
Ms. Li, a college graduate who has been unemployed for five months, posted a video saying that after she lost her job in Zhengzhou, she had spent all her savings: "I really don't have any money, but I don't want to tell them (parents) that I have no money, I'm afraid They are worried about me. If there is really no other way, I can only talk to them. My dad is not good at talking, and he will not call me to ask me about my health, but he suddenly contacted me last month. He hung up the phone and directly He transferred me 1,000 yuan. He may feel that I am in financial difficulty now. I really did not expect this mask incident to make me so miserable."
Ms. Li said that she had never spent money from her family after she started working, but this time she was really helpless. Another college graduate who has been unemployed for more than a month said in the video that unemployment made her anxious: "I am very sad, what should I do! Our family is really unlucky, and the family of three has not done anything bad.”
In the past three years since China implemented the zero-epidemic policy, millions of companies have closed down, and a large number of foreign capital has withdrawn from China. Some scholars have analyzed that the employment environment in the future will only get worse. Mr. Liu, a netizen in Kaifeng, Henan, said that in the past three years, he has worked as a temporary worker most of the time and has no social security. He complained that he couldn’t see hope: “I just can’t see hope in life, ah, I don’t have any hope for life in this life. When I go home, I escape from life and reality in the pigsty.”
Some public opinion believes that although China has ended the epidemic, a huge army of unemployed has already formed. Once this group has difficulty maintaining basic survival, the consequences will become very serious.
Tags:
ASIA UPDATE