Chinese factory jobs go unfilled as young workers seek easier jobs and migrants stay home

Chinese factories are struggling to fill jobs amid a global surge in demand for Chinese goods.

Young Chinese workers are turning their backs on factory jobs, while migrant workers stay home, and factory owners say they are having a hard time filling positions in factories that make everything from handbags to cosmetics.

Some migrant workers are reporting that they are concerned about catching COVID-19 in cities or factories, despite China’s low caseload. Meanwhile, young workers are gravitating toward service industry jobs that pay more or are less demanding.

The trend offers a possible preview of larger challenges to come as the world’s workforce ages and shrinks.

The Chinese trend echoes that in the U.S., where many employers are having a hard time hiring workers, despite the fact that millions of people who lost jobs during the pandemic remain unemployed. Potential workers cite fear of getting COVID-19, lack of child care and enhanced unemployment benefits as the reason for holding back from seeking employment.

Chinese problems are magnified by longer-term demographic shifts, including a shrinking labor pool that is the legacy of the countries longtime policy allowing only one child per family. This policy was abandoned in 2016.

Read more from The Wall Street Journal.