After the Spring Festival, the voices of "labor shortage" from redwood enterprises across the country have resurfaced again. Meanwhile, a large number of workers have also claimed that it's difficult to find jobs. In response to this, many people can't help but wonder: if there are workers available, why is there still a "labor shortage"?
Upon investigation, it was found that after the Lantern Festival, the large-scale redwood furniture enterprises in various regions have basically all resumed operations. Most of the old employees have returned, and the new employee arrival rate for vacant positions has reached 80%, restoring normal production. "Our management system is relatively strict. If workers do not return to the factory for work after the holiday within the specified time, we will treat it as an automatic resignation and will not rehire them. This year, only a few workers from our factory did not return on time. Of course, we are now recruiting some skilled workers while laying off those with poorer skills, in order to better improve product quality," said Mr. Peng, the market manager of Yonghua Furniture Co., Ltd. in Panyu, Guangzhou, introducing their post-holiday employment situation. When discussing Yonghua's strategy for retaining employees, Manager Peng stated: "Our company has a relatively stable order volume throughout the year, ensuring the workload and wages of the workers; the garden-like factory environment provides employees with a good working and living environment. We have our own private club and farm, which are open to employees free of charge, enriching their leisure life. Many redwood furniture companies terminate labor relations with workers at the end of the year and then rehire them the next year with higher salaries, but we don't do that. At the end of the year, we uniformly increase the wages of employees based on how long they've worked at Yonghua. The longer one works at Yonghua, the higher the wage increase."
Currently, the large enterprises in the redwood furniture industry have taken the lead in embarking on the path of transformation and upgrading. They adopt a complete management system, focus on employee training, tap into the potential of employees, formulate attractive welfare systems to consolidate morale, remove internal obstacles within the enterprise, and create a corporate culture atmosphere. Therefore, although many large enterprises need more skilled craftsmen to improve product quality and grade, they have not been significantly affected by the "labor shortage."
In contrast, the recruitment situation of many small redwood furniture enterprises is somewhat "pitiful." It is understood that although many enterprises have resumed operations according to market rules after the holiday, many stores do not have salespeople and are instead managed by the owners themselves. Factories are almost idle, and most of the workers in all positions need to be re-recruited. Recruitment notices are visible everywhere on the doors of these enterprises.
An entrepreneur from Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, expressed: "In recent years, in the redwood furniture industry, every Spring Festival, factories have to recruit a large number of workers afterward. Recruitment difficulties have become a natural phenomenon. Moreover, compared to large enterprises, the treatment and factory environment of small enterprises generally fall short, so workers prefer to go to large factories, making it hard for small factories to retain workers. The continuous rise in wages has also made some small enterprises dare not retain workers. Of course, some small factories with certain strength foundations, humanized management, and friendly bosses attract some workers who like the relatively free working environment of small factories and are willing to work in them. But this is still a minority."
From this perspective, the recruitment situations of large enterprises and small enterprises have formed a stark contrast. So, what about medium-sized enterprises? "We do not specify the return-to-factory time for workers. Many workers come back gradually after the fifteenth day of the lunar month, but even after returning, they may not necessarily come back to work for us. Currently, the workforce in the factory is around fifty percent. Old employees who return to the factory receive bonuses, and if they bring along fellow townspeople, they will receive additional bonuses based on the number of people. So, some old employees are still willing to return and introduce their fellow townspeople to the factory," said the owner of a redwood furniture enterprise in Dongyang, Zhejiang.
Medium-sized redwood furniture enterprises lie between large and small enterprises. Compared to small enterprises, their production is more stable, and the treatment is relatively better, but compared to large enterprises, they still fall slightly short in terms of "talent cultivation" and "talent attraction." However, they have already achieved a certain scale and possess certain economic strength and market status, with great future development potential and space. In fact, for some passionate and idealistic individuals, growing together with the enterprise can also be a good choice.
Where does the labor shortage occur? Naturally, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are the direct victims of the "labor shortage." But it doesn't mean that large enterprises are not affected by the "labor shortage." Regarding the redwood furniture industry, enterprises generally lack senior technicians, design talents, and professional management talents, all of which are slowing down the pace of industry transformation and upgrading. (Source: China Classical Furniture Network, reporter JunJun)