New signs are emerging that China’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor actually may not be so inexhaustible.
Three researchers from U.S. universities stood outside the Guangzhou railway station before the lunar new year festival and queried 634 factory workers about their working conditions.
What the researchers found were underlying concerns not just about low wages and poor working conditions but also about whether their jobs were even worth it.
According to a Depaul University press release citing the research of Management Prof. Bin Jiang, who worked with two professors from the University of Texas, the dissatisfactions could be a harbinger both for Chinese suppliers and major U.S. corporate buyers (read Wal-Mart).
“The recent shortages of labor in this most populous country reflect the fact that if suppliers don't improve job satisfaction in their factories, they will be unable to recruit enough workers,” Jiang said. "And as China continues to develop, more workers will say 'no' to traditional low pay, long working hours and poor working conditions."
"No supply chain can be sustainable without satisfied workers," he continued. "The Chinese factories should improve systems for worker recruitment, evaluation and training. Wages must be adjusted to reflect performance levels, and extra training should be offered as necessary. Factories also should learn more advanced operational skills, such as line balancing, shop floor control and aggregate planning, to analyze production processes and highlight where bottlenecks occur, so that they can improve productivity and reduce extreme overtimes.
Sorry, I haven’t seen the full study and don’t have a link to it. Those interested should contact Robin Florzak, DePaul Media Relations, at rflorzak@depaul.edu
Also, I can only presume that the interviews were conducted during this year's lunar new year festival. If that were the case, workers might have been especially grumpy from the weather-related delays. But I don't know this for sure.
No doubt that China's labor supply is not infinite, nor is it necessarily cheap when it is adjusted for productivity, quality, and adaptability. But then, there is no such thing as infinite supplies of labor even in India. Try to hire some call center people and see how wages have spiked and productivity growth stalled.
Then there are questions about the motives of the researchers. A management professor that has a newly minted PhD in Operations Research and little field experience doing research in a foreign province, with little evidence and track record of expertise in the use of survey research and interview techniques in a Chinese setting do not lend great credibility to the research.
Just ask any competent and credible journalist (like Mr. Johnson) how much work it takes to build relationships, get Chinese people to trust the reporter (researcher) enough to tell the truth rather than recite the propaganda or tell people what they think the want to hear!
See his bio here:
https://samson.comtech.depaul.edu/faculty/fac.php?first=Bin&last=Jiang
It does appear that Bin Jiang certainly looks like an outside province person - a foreigner - trying to besmirch the good name of GuangDong doing substandard research that is far from his area of expertise. If he or his PR person reads this blog --- please post a link to his research so it can be peer reviewed.
Bin Jiang and his two U of Texas colleagues almost certainly came to Guangdong province to do research without prior permission and probably did not secure the required sponsorship / permits from the local and central governments.
To query a "sample" of 634 workers at a railway station is a methodology that is at best, unscientific, and furthermore, subject to respondent giving false replies to tell the researchers what they think the researchers want to hear or what they feel makes them 'fit' in with their peers around them.
Bin Jiang is described as someone who speaks fluent "Chinese" on his webpage. Does he, or any of his colleagues, have a minimum of competence in conversational Cantonese or any of the dialects of their respondents? Or did they barge in and just started asking questions of people in a crowd where everyone and anyone can hear their answers ? Was there any assurance or steps taken to ensure confidentiality for the respondents ? Were they compensated to participate? Facts, facts, please.
Was there any effort made prior to showing up at the railway station to build up a relationship of trust with the respondents so they will be inclined to reveal the truth?
This kind of "research" is hardly better than research showing the inevitability of Hillary Clinton winning the nomination that dominated the news before Iowa.
Posted by: A B | February 28, 2008 at 09:43 PM
Working on Christmas Day or Christmas eve does not make people happy campers in the United States.
It is good to be with family and friends for the holidays.
Posted by: Marvin Foushee | February 28, 2008 at 11:37 PM
It looks like vanityfair.com got Falon Gonged by the FBI.
Check it out.
Posted by: Marvin Foushee | February 29, 2008 at 12:07 AM
Do we really need to have a real random sample of factory workers to know what the working conditions are like ? And do we really need to ask the factory workers whether they are satisfied with their working condition and wages ? It's like not able to make a decision whether to help people sinking 10 KM off shore without asking whether they are sinking. Oh, it is not scientific for sure, but the conclusion is too obvious. And do we really need to ask the workers to see whether there will be a shortage of low wage workers ?
Hmm... Of course, it is better not to know, and not to face the reality.
Posted by: Larry | February 29, 2008 at 10:57 AM