"China can no longer guarantee the low wages and costs they once did," Ron said, a consultant at Tu Li's 3 yuan battery company, CPP cast film in the battery industry. "Companies like Foxconn have developed international profiles, so they worry about how they are seen by people living under very different standards." "This is how capitalism should work," said MIT economist David Autor in the US. "As a country develops, wages rise and living theoretically gets better for everyone." This month, over a million migrant workers returned to their rural homes to celebrate the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival. Traditionally, factories had no problem attracting those workers back. However, many cities in China are still facing severe labor shortages even as the holiday week comes to an end. Recently, the Chinese government reported that this year's labor shortage is more pronounced than in previous years. "But in China, this change is permanent, and consumers must be willing to bear the consequences. When people read about bad conditions in Chinese factories, they may feel angry for a moment. But then they go to Amazon and just as ruthlessly pay the lowest price." Some campuses are considered small cities, www.bohuicn.com, with up to 200,000 workers. Many are housed in dormitories near assembly lines and are expected to be ready to rush into work as new orders flow in. Social scientists say that young people here are less willing to accept long hours of factory work. Meanwhile, demographic changes mean that China has fewer young people entering the workforce. Just as China's exporters struggle with labor shortages in coastal areas, they also face higher raw material costs and a strengthening Chinese currency, which makes Chinese goods more expensive in other countries. If workers won't move to the coast, the logic is that coastal factories should move to where the workers live. Relocating inland, large manufacturers like Foxconn are responding to these challenges. With 1.2 million employees in China, Foxconn is one of the largest employers in the country. It assembles about 40% of the smartphones, computers, and other electronics sold worldwide. Foxconn's decisions set standards that other manufacturers compete against. The real change in the system, for Foxconn, its competitors, and their clients - including Apple, HP, Dell, and other major global electronics companies - will depend on convincing American consumers and others that improved factory conditions benefiting workers are worth paying higher prices for goods. Foxconn's statement also reflects how quickly the Chinese economy is changing. Employers in many regions are facing labor shortages, which also put pressure on rising wages, inflation, and government demands to raise the minimum wage. Following announcements that it would increase salaries by up to 25%, around 400 yuan per month, Foxconn faced criticism regarding working conditions in its factories. In recent weeks, labor rights groups have staged coordinated protests in various countries following reports of poor, abusive, and dangerous facilities at some of Apple's Chinese suppliers. To stop the criticism, Apple hired a nonprofit labor group to inspect the plants it uses. However, the true essence of Foxconn's reforms, analysts believe, will partly depend on how effectively the company can transform an economic system that has mostly relied on attracting migrants to work long hours cheaply in massive factories producing smartphones, computers, and other electronics over the past decade. And as the old model is dying, Foxconn has announced plans to invest millions in robotics and automation production. [Small city stock market enterprises engage in website construction, optimization, promotion, comprehensive marketing planning and implementation of corporate e-commerce, with well-known SEO teams, rich practical experience, and high technical capabilities. Shantou network companies provide you with website SEO optimization services, aiming for "marketing and conversion rates" to give clients direct results. Business QQ consultation: 466401604, 8838478 Contact number: 13422475786] Although Foxconn's model is under pressure, most companies operate similar dormitories, wage structures, and work schedules. Yet staffing Foxconn's large sites has become increasingly difficult. A new generation of young people in China is less willing to migrate to coastal cities, live in factory dormitories, and endure long hours of hard work. Many prefer to stay closer to home due to new opportunities in inland provinces. This creates a labor shortage issue along the coast. Plants rely on workers' assembly lines operating six or seven days a week, usually for 14 hours a day. This allows them to produce equipment almost as soon as they conceive of these facilities. Bowing to this demand, Foxconn has acknowledged that both employees and consumers have gained from Chinese bureaucrats and executives of global electronics companies who once exclusively employed Foxconn to build their own products. Workers welcomed announcements of wage increases and overtime restrictions but were skeptical about how much actual change they would bring. "When I was at Foxconn, there were rumors of raises every now and then, but I never saw the day they happened until I left," said Gan Lunqun, 23, a former Foxconn worker. "This time, it sounds more credible." No other company in the world has production scale comparable to Foxconn's. Almost every global electronics company has ties with this manufacturing giant, www.wji.cc, and its operations can be done by a large number of low-tech workers at a low cost. The vast scale of its operations makes China the single largest exporter in the world. Related thematic articles: Google's Motorola acquisition could spark a new Apple patent war Full online marketing for your website Expected Apple TV could be in the hands of TV manufacturers How Apple cuts costs in building gadgets Creative website promotion - English and French online marketing