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Since July 2009, labor demand of enterprises in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province has risen significantly, with 100,000 jobs still vacant. Export-oriented enterprises in Pearl River Delta have also seen signs of recovery. Dongguan, the city once hit hard by the global financial crisis, is now facing labor shortage.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in labor intensive sectors including garment and textile industry, ironmongery, and mechanical and electrical products manufacturing create most of the labor demand in Wenzhou.

"Exploding" new orders is the direct cause of Wenzhou's booming labor demand. According to statistics released by Wenzhou Customs on August 20, foreign trade volume totaled 1.34 billion yuan in July, up 10.1 percent compared with the previous month.

New orders in the textile sector have grown by 20 percent, said Wenzhou Fashion Association. In the first half of 2009, sales of domestic oriented brands kept a growth rate of over 30 percent. Some enterprises which have their own innovation in business mode witnessed sales growth of over 50 percent in the peak season.

With the warm up of the macro economy, a large number of enterprises in Guangdong Province have experienced a recovery trend of new orders. Their labor demand has also kept rising. Statistics from the Labor Bureau of Dongguan showed that the labor markets there started to warm up in April and recovery signs of labor demand have became very clear in June.

New orders have boomed since June, and worker recruitment is now my biggest concern, said Xiao Senlin, president of Dongguan Hayidai Toy Factory.

Dr. Ding Li, researcher with Guangdong Academy of Social Science, said that positive factors including new projects of infrastructure construction, growing domestic demand, and industry restructuring led to the upward trend of Guangdong's economy.

By People's Daily Online