At around 130 million strong, China’s army of migrant workers has played a critical role in the rapid economic growth the country has experienced in recent years – largely providing a cheap source of unskilled labor. As demand for Chinese goods abroad declines, however, so in turn does the domestic demand for such employees.
In recent months, more than 20 million migrant workers have lost their jobs, with countless others receiving pay cuts and reduced working hours. This reduction in income going to China’s migrant workers will have a devastating effect on the nation’s hinterlands – the majority of a worker’s earned wages are sent home to support their family.
“The country’s employment situation is extremely grim,” confirmed China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
The $585 billion stimulus plan proposed in November is expected to help ameliorate the hardships of some of the migrants by employing them in labor-intensive public works projects.