Thaindian News

Beijing, Mar.28 (ANI): China’s vast worker pool that helped to create the country’s economic miracle has finally ‘dried up’ due to the shortage of young workers, says Zhang Zheng, a leading economist.

Zheng, an economist at Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, pointed out China’s leaders are worrying that the country’s one-child policy has affected number of young workers ready to step into the country’s factories.

“Each year, the number of new workers joining factories is smaller than the number of old workers who are retiring”, “The supply has dried up,” The Telegraph quoted Zheng, as saying.

Zhang added that it was not just demographics that is affecting workforce, but also the growing ambition of young Chinese to pursue further education and then white-collar jobs.

According to his calculations, only 154 million people under 30 were part of China’s enormous 550 million-strong industrial workforce.

The shortage of young workers is problem for Chinese factory bosses, as they need workers who can work for long hours long hours and can do the work that demands physical strength, precision and good eyesight.

As a result, wages have shot up by 15 per cent to 40 per cent in some areas, which has made China a more expensive location for foreign companies to manufacture their goods.

“Chinese companies have to accept the fact they have to raise wages”, “And foreign clients will have to accept that China is not just a place to manufacture cheap goods. Without rising prices, fewer Chinese companies will be willing to take orders,” he added. (ANI)