China moves to stem mass layoffs

[Robbien]

Source: BBC

Companies in two Chinese provinces, Shandong and Hubei, have been told they must seek official consent if they want to lay off more than 40 people.

As China's main external markets plunge into recession and export orders shrink, layoffs have multiplied in the country's big manufacturing regions. In Shandong alone, nearly 700,000 people have lost their jobs this year.

. . .


The human resources controls imposed in Shandong and Hubei are an attempt to put bureaucratic obstacles in the way of mass layoffs. But it is unclear how effective they will be.

"The factories are not getting enough orders, so some workers have nothing to do," Chinese media quote a Shandong factory manager as saying. "I have been thinking of getting rid of some of them to cut costs. But if the government doesn't agree to my layoff plans, what can I do? I can't afford to pay them all."

The alternative may be drastic wage cuts.

In one factory in Guangdong, salaries have been reduced by up to 75%.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7735205.stm

[notadmblnd]

1. Dear China,

American's have no more money to buy your shit. So sorry.

Sincerely,
an American

[Fearless]

2. And thus their downfall.

[bdamomma]

5. it's the ripple effect.

and it's taking the workers down.

[Waiting For Everyman]

3. Yup, when there's no domestic consumer base being paid enough

to buy what's produced, and all you do is play the system to dump under-compensated product into another country, both get screwed. That's our little take-away lesson from all this.

Not that the financial geniuses have acknowledged the reality of that yet. I'd bet on China's catching on faster than ours though. Neither will India's.

And guess what, duped American public? The cheap goods we were promised for it aren't even cheap except in quality, because middlemen scoop up the difference in excess profits which they then create webs like toxic derivatives with. Great idea! :sarcasm:

Reagan was such a great thinker, wasn't he? Might as well include the RW's proteges and enablers, Clinton and Carter too, to be fair. We've had 40 years of sellout. I'm amazed we have any economy left at all.

[NickB79]

4. Could China's government survive a recession?

Their explosive growth and the rise of a middle class has been the only thing that has prevented widespread rioting against the government's heavy-handed control tactics. If you suddenly see millions of unemployed Chinese on the streets of major cities, violence could easily ensue.

[Xithras]

7. The Chinese government knows how to deal with violence.

Besides, at its core, China is still a communist nation. Even unemployed Chinese people have a roof over their heads and enough food to survive in their stomach. The government there knows that the people will put up with just about anything so long as they're warm and their bellies are full.

China had a massive unemployment problem in the early 1990's before their economic expansion took off. There was some conflict because of it, but the Chinese quickly killed or imprisoned those responsible. The rest took the hint.

[OhioChick]

6. Welcome to our world.

:nopity: