Migrant workers troop home having lost jobs

By Li Xinran  |   2008-12-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

NEARLY 5 million migrant workers had returned home by the end of November, accounting for 5.4 percent of rural migrant workers, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said.

Many of them had lost their jobs as the global financial crisis took its toll across the country.

The 4.85 million migrant workers were mainly from 10 provinces including Sichuan, Hebei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan.

Meanwhile, employers in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian and Shandong, as well as Shanghai, have sacked 2.45 million people, accounting for 5.2 percent of the workforce in these areas, the ministry said.

There were 32,000 less jobs available at 700 enterprises in 18 cities inspected by the ministry between September and October, down 3 percent from September.

Job opportunities in 45 cities decreased 10 percent, a total of 100,000 jobs, by November, compared to September, the ministry said. The number of people seeking jobs increased 40,000, or 6 percent, during the same period.

At least 10 million migrant workers have lost their jobs, an official in the ministry, who asked not to be identified, told Beijing-based Caijing Magazine.

China has about 140 million migrant workers, according to the magazine. It was unclear when these jobs were lost.

Meanwhile, more than 6 million students will seek jobs next year, half a million more than were released into the jobs market last year. Up to a quarter could have difficulty finding jobs, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said on Monday.

Many college graduates now lack the skills needed to compete for jobs in a fast-changing economy and are unwilling to take less-respected jobs, said Chen Guangqing, head of the National Association of Vocational Education, China's biggest vocational training organization, according to a news agency.