Society

Migrant worker shortage seen as good sign

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-02-18 09:46

The current migrant worker shortage in China is a good sign that the country is undergoing an industrial transfer, and the severe working conditions the workers once had to bear are expected to change, said Ye Tan, a well-known economics commentator, on her blog Wednesday.

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It is normal for worker shortages to occur during an industrial transfer, in which the trend is for low-end manufacturing industries to move inland from China's eastern areas, she said.

During the past decade, eastern coastal areas have frequently repeated the practice of battling for migrant workers when they receive orders from overseas and driving them away when business is down.

China's coastal areas have forged a complete industrial chain but failed to create a mature domestic market and help narrow the wealth gap, she said, adding that rigid management has also led the country's economy into a trap.

The emergence of a migrant worker shortage symbolizes that the eastern areas' development model is now a thing of the past, and there is no need to feel bad for this, but instead we should view it as a good thing, she said.