Guangdong to increase wages to lure back workers
- Source: Global Times
- [02:00 March 19 2010]
- Comments
By Lin Meilian
South China's Guangdong Province plans to raise the minimum wage for workers effective May 1 in an effort to neutralize the widening gap and attract more rural migrant workers, the China News Service reported Thursday.
The Human Resource and Social Security Department of Guangdong said Wednesday that the monthly minimum wage in Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan would be raised by an average of 21 percent to 920 yuan ($134), while the minimum wage for part-time workers would be adjusted to 8.8 yuan ($1.2) per hour, the report said.
The adjusted minimum wage would be divided into five categories ranging from 660 to 1,030 yuan ($96 to $ 150) a month, depending on the financial situation in different cities in the province.
The move came a month after the country's second biggest exporter, Jiangsu Province, raised its minimum wage by about 12 percent to 960 yuan ($140.64) from the current 850 yuan ($124).
It was the first time in the past two years that the minimum wage was raised in Guangdong, a bureau official said.
"The adjustment meets the need of social development, neutralizes the widening gap and optimize the employment situations," Lin Wangping, deputy director of the bureau, was quoted as saying.
According to statistics, China's economy expanded 8.7 percent in 2009.
Many enterprises in Guangdong experienced a shortage of migrant workers after Spring Festival, a time when most of them returned home to cel-ebrate and rest.
As a result, some companies promised to raise wages to attract migrant workers.
However, some experts said raising the minimum wage is a positive signal, yet it might not prove to be such a magnet for migrants.
"A 20 percent raise is a big jump because many other provinces offer around 10 percent. That's because Guangdong wants to stand out from among other competitors," Lü Xuejing, professor of social security at Capital University of Economic Business, told the Global Times Thursday.
"However, I don't think the adjustment is attractive enough as it doesn't make much of a difference to work as a farmer at home or as a migrant worker far from home in Guangdong," she said.
She explained that the higher minimum wage might attract some older migrant workers but won't appeal to skilled workers who are less willing to do manual work.
According to the Beijing Times, Beijing will raise its monthly minimum wage levels by 10 percent from the current 800 yuan ($117.2) possibly next month.
