Migrant workers wait to check out the latest job updates on the electronic board at Sanhe Labor Market in Dongguan, Guangdong province. The city has seen a slight recovery in opportunities during the first quarter of this year as local companies have resumed business.
As she watched the electronic board flash with the latest job information, Guo Lihong let out a sigh of relief. Sitting in a labor market in the industrial hub of Dongguan, she knew her gamble had paid off.
The 22-year-old had taken a big risk when she quit as a secretarial clerk at a small shoe company in Xintang township, a suburb of the Guangdong provincial capital, Guangzhou, to find "something better". Jobs have been hard to come by during the global financial crisis.
But as she scanned the alerts on the LED display at the Sanhe job center in Houjie, she felt her prayers had been answered.
"It is good to see there are more jobs now. It means I have more opportunities," said Guo, who moved to the Pearl River Delta from her native Hunan province. "A majority of migrant workers, like me, have been worrying about jobs since Spring Festival.
"I was introduced by one of my friends to work in the small shoe company. But I was not satisfied with the salary. I wanted something better."
As she speaks, she breaks off to answer her mobile phone. "The call is from a large company," she whispers, covering the mouthpiece with her hand. "They want me for an interview this afternoon."
Minutes later, she is heading home to prepare for her big chance. On her way out, she passes dozens of migrant workers heading the other way to find out the latest job news.
Chen Weibiao, a manager at the Sanhe job center, said Guo's story was a typical one in recent weeks, adding: "Compared to last month, there are a lot more jobs now as some local companies have resumed business."
He explained that the number of companies entering the job market was 15.6 percent higher in April than in March, while the number of jobseekers fell by 39 percent. The latter statistic, however, he put down to the first-quarter exodus of migrants to their hometowns because of the "slim hope of finding work here after the factory closures".
Sources operating within the province's human resources market said at least 362,700 people from outside Guangdong had registered with job services since January, 123,300 less than in the fourth quarter of last year.
But Chen said the electronic boards at his center had featured only 8,630 jobs at 2,550 companies since the beginning of 2009, a 36.5-percent drop on last year.
And he said just 1,650 firms took part in the 23 job fairs the Sanhe labor market had organized this year, a year-on-year decline of 41 percent, although the number of jobseekers increased 21 percent to 49,600.
"More than 13,332 unemployed workers have come to us looking for new jobs. That's a year-on-year rise of 28 percent," Chen told China Daily. "The positive signs within the job market have been well illustrated by the rise in the number of jobs offered by local companies, which have resumed production after the first quarter."
He said the center planned to organize a free job fair each month for migrant workers, while sources at the Guangdong labor and social security authority added they were planning to hold up to 10,000 this year.
Liu Youjun, the director of the authority, said the province had seen a "gradual recovery" both in economic development and employment, with more than 412,000 new jobs created in the first quarter.
Six months ago, many factories in cities across the Pearl River Delta, and especially in Dongguan, were forced to close down due to the global financial crisis, leaving thousands of migrant workers jobless.
"The closures also resulted in a rise in mass disturbances caused by migrant workers, laid-off late last year," said Chen Jingbo, deputy director of the Shatian township public security department, who went on to point out such cases had dramatically declined as more workers found new jobs.
Sanhe labor market boss Chen Weibiao said their job fairs had proved "effective in easing employment pressure and solving social problems in the Pearl River Delta region", as did the center's training courses in English and accounting targeted at helping migrant workers expand their opportunities.
During the first quarter, 770 attended the training, a small decline, he said. "But, since April, a growing number of workers have come. They have developed more awareness of improving themselves. Firms are looking for more workers with technical skills now, rather than ones they can simply arrange in production lines."
Tony Hsiao, general manager of Dongguan Energy Shoes Co Ltd, told China Daily his firm would be expanding its operation in the second quarter to meet demand. It will install four new production lines in May and hire 400 extra workers to add to its existing staff of 2,500.
"Production demand has gradually seen a recovery after the harsh first quarter," said Hsiao, whose company is backed by investors in Taiwan.
Sources in the Dongguan economic and trade authorities said production volume for shoes and bags had increased 0.4 percent since January. However, in Houjie, domestic and overseas orders for footwear during the first three months of 2009 were overall down 20 percent on the same period last year.
"It is a positive sign of trade development, given that the financial crisis is still hitting the manufacturing industry," said Hsiao, whose factory exports mainly to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain. "Orders from these countries have increased a lot since April.
"Usually, the second and third quarters are the golden period in terms of production and sales for shoemakers. That is why we are looking for more workers."
Dongguan Energy Shoes moved to its new base in Shatang township last May but, thanks to the economic slowdown, has suffered a 20-percent, first-quarter drop in sales revenue this year. Hisao said the firm had seen an opportunity in the crisis, however, and dedicated more than 130 staff members to product design and research.
The firm still faces challenges in the job market, though, because of the massive reduction in the number of migrant workers now living in the Pearl River Delta, he said, adding: "We're especially going to find it difficult to hire technical staff, such as designers and engineers."
Li Bo, vice-general manager of Dongguan Hongleida Electronic and Plastic Co Ltd, also has worries over hiring. He said: "We need more workers in the second quarter due to increased orders from overseas clients. But we are worried about recruitment."
The firm, which produces high-powered LEDs, has recorded a 30-percent rise in sales revenue, compared to the fourth quarter of last year.
