From Nation, issue no.376, July14, 2008
Translated by Liang duo
Original article: [Chinese] 

"If you could endure those three of four years away from home, you could make what would take you ten years in Beijing. After, you can enjoy your life with your wife and children. Why not give it a shot?"

Wu Chengfa, a labor contractor, said with an air of assurance. He was, however, often eyed suspiciously by others when sourcing labor for oversea markets, he said.

"They look upon me as if I am a human trafficker."  

Based near Beijing's east fifth-ring road, Hu was one rank higher than the migrant workers he was charged with hiring. Although his monthly salary was two or three thousand yuan more than theirs, he did not have to participate in the same hard labor.

As a result of Wu's efforts and others in the trade though, construction sites within China have started to feel a drying up of migrant labor, with some workers even quitting mid-project to pursue opportunities abroad.

A Headhunter is Born
Two years ago, a friend of Wu's from the same hometown in Inner Mongolia started a business helping foreign construction firms find and send Chinese workers abroad.

Recently, the friend has solicited Wu’s help in finding skilled masons and carpenters to work in Mongolia, Russia, the US, and elsewhere.

"The key is that companies abroad can offer really attractive compensation," Wu said.

Today, a migrant worker can on average earn 120 yuan a day in central Beijing and 100 yuan in the countryside, with accommodation and meals provided. A worker can net about 2,000 yuan a month.

In comparison, according to one recent oversea recruitment advertisement, a skilled worker could earn 800 dollars a month in the first year abroad, and more than 1,500 in years following. There were bonuses for work finished on time and insurance coverage.

Despite the alluring benefits, workers wishing to go abroad had two major expenses. First, there was a 40,000 yuan referral fee paid to the intermediary. Second, there was a project completion guarantee of 5,000 dollars, which could be deducted from the worker's salary and returned upon completion of the project.

All things considered, an expatriated worker could earn a net of 35,000 dollars (230,000 yuan) in three years working abroad, or what they could earn in ten years in Beijing.

Wu was not alone in singing praise for such opportunities--even local governments were becoming active organizers of foreign labor assignments.

One example is Longchangqianheng, a company which organizes such foreign assignments for workers in Sichuan. The firm had sent 522 construction workers abroad since April 2004.

Tightening on the Other End
Zhang, who works at a medium-sized construction company in Beijing, felt the shortage in migrant workers earlier this year.

Traditionally, workers who went home for Spring festival would return in the first week of the New Year. This time they were not as punctual. Bosses chalked up the phenomenon to heavy snowstorms, which caused many workers to arrive home late. They figured it understandable that workers want to stay at home a litter longer.

However, a call from one foreman worried Zhang: Five or six bricklayers from Hebei had refused to come back. "There is too much work at home, we can’t leave," the workers said.

Zhang said he later learned from another worker in their hometown that they were in fact going to work abroad, where they would earn two to three times what they could in Beijing.

The same phenomenon also happened to another foreman under Zhang - this time, the carpenter didn’t return.

Zhang said this was his wake-up call. With them not returning to work, it would be impossible to finish the project before the 2008 Olympic Games, possibly forcing his company to breach its contract. He said that with the help of friends, he poached workers from other construction sites, which in turn aggravated labor shortages there.

Other factors were compounding the shortage as well. Upon hearing news of the Sichuan earthquake that struck on May 12, a great number of Sichuan workers rushed home. Sichuan is China's major labor-exporting province.

The shortage was not just limited to construction sector but also in other industries such as domestic services, retail apparel, and restaurants. Consequently, a general labor shortage emerged in Beijing.

A manager at one Beijing construction company told the EO that to solve the problem, their labor force was re-arranged to focus on key projects, with medium-urgent projects put off. Meanwhile, managers went out to surrounding labor markets in person but with mixed results, the manager said.

According to data from Beijing employment service center for April, there were 19,000 companies who need about 180,000 new workers. Meanwhile there were only 50,000 registered workers in the labor market in the first quarter of 2008. This would leave 120,000 job vacancies.

The shortage had likely worsened since that data was recorded, as a large amount of workers went home after the Sichuan earthquake on May 12.

Aside from the disaster area or abroad, where else have the migrant workers gone?

One labor recruiter said that development projects in areas outside of Beijing have also diverted migrant labor from it. In these other second-tier cities, salaries were not far behind those of Beijing, prompting many migrants to work near home.

For instance, one construction worker could earn 80 to 90 yuan a day in Anqing, Anhui province - only slightly less than in Beijing, where they could earn 100 yuan. As a result, most workers would rather stay at home.

All things considered, the migrant labor shortage in Beijing, one of China’s biggest labor importers, could continue to worsen.