A worker manufactures products at a plant in Shishi of Quangzhou City, southeast China's Fujian Province, April 19, 2020. A total of 180 enterprises above designated size in Shishi, a major textile industry hub of Fujian, have resumed production in an orderly manner since April, among which some have reengineered their equipment to ramp up the production of health care commodities. (Photo by Wang Yi/Xinhua)

A nationwide push to restart the world's second-largest economy has prompted many to go back to their jobs, but millions of migrant workers in China are finding it hard to get back to normal as they face lower incomes and even job losses despite improvement in the domestic COVID-19 situation.

This vast but vulnerable group can hardly stand the risk of income losses. 

Zhang Hong, from Central China's Henan Province, formerly did renovation work in Beijing, said he has not gone back to work yet as the virus has not disappeared. "Customers are anxious and we are anxious, too, but we are all very cautious in taking the first step."

"Since I have no income, I can hardly pay my 2,000-yuan($282.73) rent in Beijing," Zhang told the Global Times on Monday, and he may have to find a cheaper place to live if things don't move forward.

Dang Cheng from Northeast China's Liaoning Province, who makes a living in Beijing as a housekeeper, told the Global Times on Monday that although she went back to work weeks ago, her income has been halved because clients have infection worries. Also, many restaurants and bars where she used to work are closed.

"In the pre-virus period, I had at least a dozen bookings a week, but now it's less than 10," Dang complained. If her income keeps shrinking in the coming months, her savings may run out and she may not be able to pay her mortgage.

Zhang and Dang are not alone. The pandemic has disrupted the urban employment market, and as of the end of March, 70-80 million people had yet to resume work in China.

Among this group, 70 percent were migrant workers - almost equivalent to the UK's population, which was 60.36 million in 2019, according to an article published on the official WeChat account of China Finance 40 Forum, an influential non-official think tank.

Rural migrant workers are the major source of employees in labor-intensive industries such as export-oriented manufacturing and small and medium-sized services firms. As the global pandemic threatens many export firms and leads to a delay in the services sector's reopening, migrant workers are hit the hardest, analysts said.

There are 290 million migrant workers nationwide. About 80 million work in manufacturing, 50-60 million in construction, 20 million in accommodation and catering, 30-40 million in wholesale and retail operations and 30-40 million in residential services and others, according to the think tank.

Most of these industries were hard hit by the epidemic, and many companies cut staff as a result, further increasing worries for migrant workers.

An employee of a Beijing-based company that places advertisements for movie theaters told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that the company has laid off 50 percent of its staff. "Because of the coronavirus outbreak, cinemas were closed and there was no advertising. Our company is gradually moving to internet advertising," the employee said.

The owner of an auto parts company in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province told the Global Times on Monday that due to decreasing export orders, the firm has to cut costs in the second quarter or it may die. "We have no option but to send these staff back home," said the owner.

Lacesar, a leading chain restaurant, told the Global Times that it is "trying not to reduce staff" during this difficult time, but will reduce working hours instead.

Nevertheless, thanks to the country's booming digital industries, some companies are adding jobs, which will ease the pressure on migrant workers.

For instance, JD-backed on-demand delivery platform Dada Group launched an across-the-nation employment plan during the COVID-19 outbreak, encouraging residents in 2,400 Chinese cities to work as delivery staff. 

A spokesperson of Dada Group told the Global Times on Monday that during the past two months, former drivers, designers, security guards and chefs have registered as deliverymen. 

"The new job helped them to secure a major source of income and relieve their burden," he said. The firm has hired more than 100,000 deliverymen.

But these companies can't do it all, analysts said.

"Chinese policymakers need to be alert to rising frictional unemployment, which could develop into structural unemployment in the long term, affecting social stability and slowing down a rebound in consumption," Wang Jun, deputy director of the department of information at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday. 

China has urged its centrally administered state-owned enterprises to formulate special recruitment plans targeting migrant workers in poor counties via online and offline channels.

Wang warned that China's employment pressure in the second quarter will be more severe than in the first due to broad slowdowns overseas.

China's unemployment rate jumped to 5.9 percent in March - better than February's record high of 6.2 percent, but still worse than the 5.2 percent China recorded in December. 

Analysts suggested that Chinese authorities should do more to get companies back to work and provide more cash subsidies to SMEs, helping those firms to ensure capital flow so that they don't have to reduce workers to cut costs. 

"Cutting taxes and fees for SMEs won't be enough. Only when those companies have cash can they pay salaries that ensure workers' basic livelihoods," Wang said.




Newspaper headline: Migrant workers wait for ‘work resumption’