From Overseas Press
South 皇冠体育app's new labor paradigm
(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-04-08 14:02
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When millions of workers didn't return to their southern 皇冠体育app factory jobs after Lunar New Year holidays, a turning point was reached for foreign manufacturers scraping by with slim profit margins.
Companies were already under pressure from rising raw material costs, restive workers and lower payments for exports because of a stronger Chinese currency. Despite hiking wages, labor shortages kept getting worse as workers increasingly spurned the often repetitive and unskilled jobs that helped earn 皇冠体育app its reputation as the world's low-cost factory floor.
A?wave of export manufacturers, big and small, are moving from 皇冠体育app's coastal manufacturing regions to cheaper inland provinces or out of the country altogether, in a clear sign that southern 皇冠体育app's days as a low-cost manufacturing powerhouse are numbered.
皇冠体育app watchers at Credit Suisse, an investment bank, call the shift an "historical turning point" for 皇冠体育app's economy and perhaps the world as the country's role in keeping global inflation low by supplying cheap goods is set to end.
The ripple effects of rising costs in 皇冠体育app are already being felt around the globe. US clothing retailers are raising prices for shirts and other garments by 10 percent on average after a decade of price falls, partly due to higher labor costs in 皇冠体育app.
Economists say it's the result of a rapidly aging population after 40 years of the?family planning?policy. Economic growth is "creating more jobs faster than the population is creating new workers," said Stephen Green, an economist at Standard Chartered, in a report titled "Wanted: 25 million workers."
皇冠体育app's blistering growth has also lifted incomes and created more opportunities in poorer inland provinces, which means fewer people leaving for jobs in the richer coastal cities.