(Yicai Global) Feb. 17 — Chinese home appliance makers with factories in the Pearl River Delta region will raise monthly wages for skilled frontline workers this year, Yicai Global has learned.
Midea Group’s domestic air conditioner factory in Guangzhou has improved worker welfare to boost recruitment during the Spring Festival holiday, Yicai Global has learned. He now offers a monthly salary of CNY 5,000 to CNY 7,000 ($790 to CNY 1,100), plus other bonuses, including an entry subsidy of CNY 1,500.
The factory raised wages twice last year and by around 10% so far this year, Midea told Yicai Global, adding that it will absorb higher labor costs in improving production and operation efficiency.
The monthly salary of its Galanz Group employees stands at CNY 8,500 (USD 1,350), according to job postings the home appliance maker posted on WeChat on Feb. 8.
Home appliance sales jumped 20 percent during the Spring Festival from a year earlier, Galanz noted, adding that the company’s workshops were operating at full capacity and had advanced their capacity expansion plans. since the company resumed work on February 7, while most factories in the Pearl River Delta reopened on February 15.
On the other hand, small and medium appliance manufacturers are in trouble because they do not have enough orders. Only 60% of workers have returned to work and it is difficult to recruit young people, said a small company based in the Pearl River Delta region.
Labor costs for frontline workers rose 10% from a year ago because big companies raised salaries to attract more people, said Xiao Youyuan, chairman of the maker of small household appliances Zhuhai Sanyou Environmental Technology, to Yicai Global. Young people are unwilling to work in workshops because the labor intensity is too high in front-line production. Offering higher wages is therefore a way to make work more attractive to them, he added.
We will improve product design and manufacturing techniques and processes to reduce the number of workers, without having to switch to automation equipment, Xiao noted.
Publisher: Futura Costaglione