Hidden Troubles Behind Labor Shortage: Structural Contradictions In Domestic Manufacturing Industry

After the Spring Festival, the labor shortage in the southeast coast appears again. "Labor shortage" has become the focus of attention. In the Midwest, labor-intensive industries are gradually increasing, and labor costs in southeastern coastal areas are rising. Workers and enterprises have been pushed to a crossroads of choice again. The shortage of labor force is no longer just a matter of whether enterprises can recruit workers. A series of deep-seated contradictions, such as industrial layout, salary level and social security, are gradually emerging under the background of labor shortage.

"Labor shortage" increases the cost pressure of enterprises

Face " Recruitment difficulties Most companies began to raise salaries, hoping to recruit people as soon as possible. Shenzhen talent market survey shows that 71% of the participating units offer salary increase compared with the same period last year. Similarly, journalists in Foshan and Shunde found that the minimum wage provided by the labor service center here is about 1500 yuan, a substantial increase over last year. The wages paid by enterprises generally increased by about 20%. Without workers, there is no production, no production, no profit. If we want to recruit workers, we need to pay higher wages and provide more commitments.

about labour For intensive enterprises, the pressure behind the 3 words of "labor shortage" is far from being simple. It means higher cost and investment. Zhang Weidong, who runs two precision hardware manufacturing enterprises in Kunshan, Guangdong and Dongguan, told reporters that in recent two years, in order to ensure the normal operation of the enterprise, the wages he paid to the workers has been getting higher and higher in Guangdong. "Before the completion of the output value of 1 million yuan, the wage is about 80 thousand yuan, now it has risen to 120 thousand yuan, and 50% of the wage cost increase has become too great for us to rely on the labor cost to win the small business."

Guangdong province manpower Resources And the social security department recently announced that from March 1st, the minimum wage standard of Guangdong workers will increase by 18.6% on average, of which the Guangzhou standard will increase to 1300 yuan per month, the highest in the country. Although the wages of most enterprises have already been far higher than the minimum wage standards of cities, the increase of minimum wage means the increase of overtime pay and social insurance payment base, which also means a sharp rise in costs for enterprises.

Rising prices have also made many workers' pay expectations rise. On the other hand, with the demand for quality of life of young labor force in China, it is still difficult for employees to meet the expectations of employees even if they take the initiative to raise salaries. On the one hand, the wage expectations of workers are increasing continuously, and on the one hand is the increasing cost pressure of enterprises.

Prominent contradictions in industrial structure

　　 Face With the increasingly severe labor shortage and rising labor costs, many enterprises are turning their attention to industrial upgrading. Xin Daping, the boss of Dongguan new creative clothing company, bought 10 automatic computer looms last year for 520 thousand yuan. Compared with the original seven or eight machines, each machine needs one worker, now these 10 machines can cope with him alone, so he has no need to hire workers. For this investment, Xin Daping said, this is also the situation forced, in the past, lack of work, now do not ask for help. The clothes made by computer looms not only ease the difficulty of employment, but also ensure stable supply. "Many big factories have also switched to computer looms. But some small factories do not dare to take this risk because they invest too much in the early stage. Xin Daping said.

Similarly, technological upgrading also exists in other labor-intensive industries. Zhang Weidong told reporters that in the field of precision metal production in China, many business owners have begun to import large quantities of more efficient and costly lathe and apparatus to replace human labor. Under the pressure of labor costs, labor intensive industries have begun upgrading, but this looks very beautiful.

"Industrial upgrading" is often "unbearable" for small and medium-sized enterprises. "Most of the advanced lathes we buy now are imported from Japan and Taiwan, China, and they invest too much in one time, although they can reduce 10 people's lives to 2 people, but at the same time overdraw the profits in the next few years." Zhang Weidong told reporters that the industrial upgrading under the pressure of labor cost can ensure the stability of production, but make the capital chain of enterprises tight, and the ability to engage in diversified production and independent innovation is almost contained. More importantly, most of the domestic labor-intensive industries have problems of overcapacity, and enterprises should only take the way of increasing unit capacity to reduce costs, which is undoubtedly a difficult circle for the long-term development of enterprises.

Many experts have pointed out that the current employment problems in labor-intensive industries have increasingly reflected the structural contradictions in China's manufacturing industry: low value-added products, single industrial profit margins, weak capability of independent innovation and sustainable development. For the tens of thousands of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises scattered in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, the employment problem has not only needed local labor departments to organize recruitment and docking activities, but also needs comprehensive efforts from the national and local levels from the rational layout of industrial areas, the effective reduction of corporate burdens, and the improvement of social security.