只有一成上海居民愿意去当工人

Workers make their way along the Three Gorges Dam project in Yichang, China, in 2006. A recent survey in Shanghai showed only 1% would take on jobs as industrial workers. [File Photo: AFP]
A recent survey in Shanghai indicated only one percent of residents in the municipality are willing to work as manufacturing workers. A sociologist called for raising the social recognition and professional attraction of this occupation.

Our Shanghai correspondent Chen Simeng has this report.

REPORTER: The survey was conducted with 4,000 random Shanghai residents. According to the results, only one percent of respondents would be willing to work as an industrial worker. The result is by no means a surprise to the people of the city.

"workers have relatively low incomes. Government officials get better pay and good welfare as well."

"This job is tiring and rough and usually doesn't have good development prospects."

Parents also don't want their child to become workers either.

"We parents want our child to have a good job to start his or her career."

The survey also indicated that posts in government, public institutions, monopolies and the financial industry are significantly preferable because of the good incomes, stability and higher social status.

However, none of these characteristics are applicable to manufacturing workers, particularly nowadays. In China, enterprises restructure often, leading to lack of employment stability for workers.

Professor Zhang Youde is a sociologist at Shanghai University. He believes the key to raising interest in manufacturing work is to improve the social security system.

"First, we should respect the work of laborers and let the value of their work be fully recognized in society. A better and diversified social security system must also be set up."

The expert notes that Chinese enterprises have a significantly smaller talent pool than their western counterparts. They should pay more attention to the importance of labor force, especially technicians.

For China Drive, I'm Chen Simeng.