Alexandra Harney: Guangdong Exodus

In the March 2008 issue of Far Eastern Economic Review, Alexandra Harney describes a labor shortage in Guangdong province and other areas of China resulting from stricter monitoring of the environmental impact of factories and better protection of workers' rights.

Abstract: Chinese factories, whose ultra-low prices have been blamed for millions of job losses and countless plant closures around the world, are falling on hard times. In the late 1970s, as China began to reform its economy after decades of turmoil and relative isolation, Guangdong was among the first to see the opportunity. Beijing gave the province more freedom to manage its economy and to attract foreign investment. And while China still has a long way to go to improve law enforcement, local governments have started monitoring factories' environmental impact more closely and creating new regulations to better protect workers' rights. As Guangdong and other parts of China invest more in higher value-added industries, they will need more engineers, skilled technicians and managers. But China's labor shortage in this area is more severe than among semi-skilled factory hands in Guangdong.

• Reference: Harney, A. (2008). Guangdong Exodus, Far Eastern Economic Review, 171, (2, March) 29-32

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