中国公司应对用工荒

Outside a factory in Dongguan, a city in China’s manufacturing heartlands, school buses drop off children whose parents work at the Maisto toy factory, which manufactures Bburago collectable cars and radio-controlled vehicles.
在中国制造业重镇——东莞市的一家工厂外，校车放下了一群孩子。这些孩子的父母就在这家美驰图(Maisto)玩具厂工作，生产比美高(Bburago)车模收藏品和遥控玩具车。

About 120 children live in dormitories on the factory site. About 40 per cent of Maisto’s 3,000 workers live with partners and children and some of the dormitories, designed for young single workers, are being revamped to make them more suitable for families.
住在厂区宿舍的孩子大约有120个。在美驰图的3000名员工中，约有40%与配偶和子女生活在一起，部分原本为年轻单身员工设计的宿舍正在翻修，以适合家庭居住。

If the toy factory is to retain workers in China’s new era of persistent labour shortages, then this kind of investment is necessary, says manager Michael Liu.
工厂经理Michael Liu表示，中国已进入劳动力持续紧缺的新阶段，玩具厂想留住工人，这种投资就是必要的。

China’s working age population, defined as being those aged between 15 and 59, fell by 3.5m last year to 937m, a result of the one-child policy of the past three decades.
由于过去30年实行的独生子女政策，中国劳动年龄人口（年龄为15岁到59岁之间）去年减少350万，降至9.37亿。

As the number of available workers falls, factories struggle not only to find new hires but also to retain existing staff. A young and educated workforce demands more from employers. In this context, working conditions matter as much as salary.
随着可聘用的工人人数的减少，各工厂不仅需要努力招到新人，还需要努力留住现有员工。受过教育的年轻工人对于雇主的要求越来越多。在这种背景下，工作条件变的和薪水同样重要。

“We want to give them a sense of belonging and the feeling of being respected,” says Mr Liu, referring to the company’s efforts that range from better housing for employees to soliciting suggestions from them in the factory.
Liu表示：“我们希望令他们体会到归属感，以及得到尊重的感觉。”他提到公司为留住员工作出的种种努力，包括提供更好的居住条件，以及更多倾听员工的建议。

The past few weeks have made clear how severe the hiring crisis is. The weeks after the lunar new year holidays, which ended in late February this year, are typically peak recruiting season for Chinese workers.
用工危机在过去几周表露无遗。今年的春节假期已于2月底结束，而通常春节假期之后的几周是中国招工高峰季节。

But it has been difficult for many smaller employers in Dongguan, a string of satellite cities where factories predominate rather than housing or office towers. Some are struggling to recruit as many as half of the new workers they need, says Willy Lin, who owns a sweater factory in Dongguan.
然而在东莞，许多小雇主却遇到了困难。东莞一家毛衣厂的厂主Willy Lin表示，有的工厂连所需新员工的一半都很难招到。东莞包括一系列卫星城市，这里工厂林立，住房或写字楼则不多。

In this environment the minimum wage – set to rise to Rmb1,310 ($211) in May in Dongguan – means little. Already many employers pay much more than the statutory requirement.
于是，东莞将于5月将最低工资上调至每月1310元人民币（合211美元）的决定，已经没什么意义，因为许多雇主支付的工资早已大大高于法律的最低要求。

“Workers don’t care what the minimum wage is. They expect to be compensated at the market rate,” says Mr Lin. “Given the massive shortages [of labour] we are facing, I am not sure any method will work any more.”
Lin表示：“员工们并不关心最低工资是多少。他们希望薪酬达到市面水平。考虑到我们十分缺人，我不太确定还有什么办法能奏效。”