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The phenomenon of structural "recruitment shortage" has appeared in the Pearl River Delta, which has become the biggest challenge affecting the industrial upgrading and transformation of the Pearl River Delta. This is because the Pearl River Delta region, where China's manufacturing industry is the most developed, is also the first to encounter the challenge of industrial upgrading and transformation, and the core of industrial transformation lies in the labor force.

Image source: Visual China

According to reports, the phenomenon of "difficult recruitment" in major cities in the Pearl River Delta after the holiday is still prominent, and this phenomenon has been going on for many years. Taking Dongguan as an example, the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security announced the employment demand information of Dongguan enterprises after the holiday in 2019, and more than 800 enterprises will have nearly 100000 vacancies after the holiday. The Foshan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security predicts that by the end of February 2019, the return rate of migrant workers returning home for the New Year will be only 90%, which is lower than in 2018.

As one of China's manufacturing centers, the Pearl River Delta has gathered a large number of workers from all over the country. In the past ten years, the Pearl River Delta has faced a "recruitment shortage" after the Spring Festival every year, which is mainly related to the "temporary" employment of migrant workers. Due to the Spring Festival factor, many people will choose jobs again when they return after the Spring Festival, and the return time is not concentrated. Therefore, there will be a short-term recruitment shortage.

However, in recent years, there has been a structural "recruitment shortage" in the Pearl River Delta, which has become the biggest challenge affecting the industrial upgrading and transformation of the Pearl River Delta. This is because the Pearl River Delta region, where China's manufacturing industry is the most developed, is also the first to encounter the challenge of industrial upgrading and transformation, and the core of industrial transformation lies in the labor force.

The labor-intensive industries in the Pearl River Delta region are the first to encounter cost pressure, that is, labor costs have maintained a high growth rate for many years. After 2008, infrastructure and real estate absorbed too much labor, which hit manufacturing employment because infrastructure and real estate paid higher wages. This is followed by the great development of the service industry. The service industry can provide wages that are not inferior to those of the manufacturing industry, but the work requirements are relatively free, the intensity is low, and the environment is more open. This has led to the younger generation of labor away from the manufacturing industry, making the manufacturing industry continue to face labor shortage pressure.

Some labor-intensive industries have begun to migrate to Southeast Asia and other regions and central and western China, while the remaining enterprises regard technological upgrading as the preferred strategy to reduce labor costs and improve labor productivity, by updating equipment, improve production automation and intelligence. However, the new jobs required by these new machines lack sufficient technical talents to fill, that is to say, the proportion of low-end labor force in China is too high, and there are few skilled workers, especially those who meet the needs of industrial upgrading.

This is because the employment of migrant workers in China is highly unstable. Because they do not belong to local residents, they pay more attention to short-term wage income. It is easy to change jobs frequently for the wage gap of several hundred yuan, so most people can not accumulate technical resources. This is a completely different situation from Germany and Japan. Their workers are more stable and continue to accumulate technology and experience. Of course, their employment stability is stronger and their income is higher.

On the other hand, China's education system is also unable to cultivate new talents that the market needs, because these latest machines and equipment and new positions do not have corresponding courses and teachers in the traditional vocational education and compulsory education system. For example, with the increase in the number of industrial robots, robot operation and maintenance and other types of work need to be trained by enterprises themselves. Due to the characteristics of Chinese workers who frequently change jobs or work alone after accumulating technical experience, many enterprises do not dare to train workers to avoid becoming competitors or serving competitors.

Therefore, the Pearl River Delta region this structural lack of talent is the main challenge of industrial transformation and upgrading. In this year's recruitment market, the salary of senior skilled talents is very high, which reflects the relationship between supply and demand. For example, some enterprises have offered a monthly salary of up to 10,000 yuan for the "eight-level workers" of senior skilled personnel.

It should be said that the labor shortage in low-end industries may be temporary, because the low-end labor force still occupies the absolute number. At the same time, if the low-end manufacturing industry cannot give enough attractive wages, it means that it may be eliminated by the market, such as migrating to Southeast Asian countries or the central and western regions with lower labor prices, or simply closing down. The lack of senior skilled talents will inhibit the transformation and upgrading process of the whole region, and it is more related to the competitiveness and sustainable development of the Pearl River Delta region.

The key to the transformation and upgrading of China's economy is how to improve labor productivity. On the one hand, it needs continuous technological innovation. On the other hand, whether it is technological innovation itself, the use of new technologies, and the development of new industries, a large number of new talents are needed. For China as a whole, traditional vocational skills education has been unable to meet the needs of China's talent market: a more specialized market needs more specialized talents.

A few days ago, the State Council issued a notice on the "National Vocational Education Reform Implementation Plan", requiring that by 2022, a large number of ordinary undergraduate colleges and universities will be transformed into application-oriented ones, and 50 high-level higher vocational schools and 150 backbone majors (groups) will be built. After 5-10 years, vocational education has basically completed the transformation from government-sponsored to government-sponsored management and social diversification, from pursuing scale expansion to improving quality, and from referring to the general education model to corporate social participation and professional characteristics. The distinctive type of education has greatly improved the modernization level of vocational education in the new era, and provided high-quality human resources support for promoting economic and social development and improving national competitiveness.

The Pearl River Delta is one of the most developed regions in China's vocational education, and it is also the first region in China to experience transformation and upgrading. In order to enter the stage of high-quality development ahead of time, we should continue to improve the level of vocational education, cooperate with enterprises, jointly cultivate more high-skilled talents with market demand, solve the long-term dilemma of structural talent shortage, and continue to lead China's economic development.