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Gome to employ 20,000 migrant workers

By Tuo Yannan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-05 07:54

Home electronics and appliance retailer Gome is planning to hire 20,000 migrant workers to fill up vacancies in its delivery, installation and maintenance divisions.

Gome Vice-president He Yangqing said the company would conduct the recruitment on a nationwide scale. He, however, did not indicate the time frame for the hiring process.

The Beijing-based retailer indicated that it would employ the new hires in its outlets and in subsidiaries like Paradise, Dazhong and Sanlian.

The company announced its hiring plans during the opening of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The conference had indicated that migrant workers' employment problems were on the top of its agenda.

The employment issue is being dealt with in the CPPCC and the National People's Congress sessions and of particular concern is the case of university students and migrant workers.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee encouraged the industry to adopt a "no layoffs, no pay cut and no wage default" policy.

According to a sample survey made by the Ministry of Agriculture recently, of the 38.5 percent migrant workers who returned home for the Chinese New Year, 60.4 percent managed to retain their jobs on return, while 39.6 percent lost their jobs and could not find other jobs in cities.

The survey estimated that migrant workers who returned home jobless accounted for about 15.3 percent of the total, or about 20 million people.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security estimated that China's labor oversupply problems would further exacerbate this year, as 24 million people are looking for jobs. This includes 13 million new job seekers, 8 million laid-off workers and 3 million unemployed workers.

A delegation of migrant workers at the session admitted that while most of their problems were due to the economic crisis, it was also partly due to the neglect of vocational training in the past few years.

Many local governments have recognized that skilled workers are still in demand in the talent market, so the government has called for "training first, then job" plan.

He Yangqing said his company would look for people below 35 and with a keen eye for work. Gome will provide professional training programs to these migrant workers. The training would be in basic logistics, delivery, installation, maintenance and other professional services jobs.

In December 2008, Gome's rival Suning said it would recruit 36,000 employees, including 1,500 senior managers, for 200 new stores in 2009. Suning also proposes to provide 8,000 internship opportunities to college students every year.