Under The Pressure Of The South Manufacturing Industry, A New Way Of Survival Is Employed: Employing Japanese Workers.

Southern China

Under the pressure of high cost and unstable demand, some factories in the core area are now beginning to rely on a new way of survival: employing day laborers.

On a warm morning, dozens of job seekers gathered on a street in Shiling Town, bargaining with employers for 20 to 30 dollars a day's temporary job.

This scenario is far from the bright high-tech manufacturing industry that Beijing has conceived.

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In a small town, local factory owners say temporary workers can retain their competitiveness, even though individuals say that daily wages will be higher than full time wages.

The workers are willing too, because many people worry that if the customer is gone, the factory that will provide long term work will not pay the wages.

Huang Biliang, who runs a button factory in Dongguan, said, "we never recruit temporary workers before, because the cost of labor is not so high.

But recently, we began to recruit more temporary workers.

David Leung, manager of a stainless steel product factory near Jiangmen Town, also said, "every time you hire a long-term worker, you have more risks."

In the face of unstable orders and wage increases, some factories in China's manufacturing base have already made adjustments, which have enabled them to retain some labor-intensive jobs which would have gone to cheaper areas in Asia.

For China, this is a change.

The authorities have tried to curb the unstable form of employment and enforce stricter labour laws.

Hiring temporary workers is a gray area in law.

Despite the lack of statistics, academics and factory managers say the use of temporary workers has increased in southern China since the financial crisis, and has increased rapidly over the past two years.

Ben Sinpandorf, head of the Silk Road consultancy, said: "this shows that China may succeed in maintaining its manufacturing base."

China wants to bid farewell to piecework and turn to a high-tech consumption economy.

But from the experience of Shiling and other places, temporary workers may help a large number of small factories in the country continue to play in the next few years.

Manufacturers of toys and stainless steel pots.