Unit 2 Lesson 5: "Made in China"

Since taking this course “Made in China’ has a new meaning for me. It has always been there, on my clothes and in my shoeboxes but now those three words mean so much more. " 'Made in China' No Longer Cheap" by Charlotte Windle from the BBC points out just one of a myriad of implications of what it means for China to be producing on such a gigantic scale. The problems associated with the high output of goods are many and the plight of Chinese migrant workers represents just one of the issues.

Migrant workers come to urban areas from the countryside. Searching for a way in which to make a living, they are willing to leave family and home behind. In the city they often work long hours and live in dormitory type halls. That is if they are lucky, many migrant workers live in much less appealing ‘housing’ on the outskirts of cities. Regardless of where they are living it is how they are living which is an issue. They are not living at home; they are not living with their families. Thus it should come as no surprise that their positions are temporary. “At Flextronics, there are 4,000 workers 92% of whom are from out of town.” (Windle). Clearly this poses a huge issue for any company, many are “forced to replace a third of the workforce each year.” Another example is a Finnish company Alteams, “ which provides components for Nokia and Erickson mobile phones. It takes a full year to teach someone how to operate the heavy machinery. The average employee stays for less than two years.” (Windle)

Take a moment to consider what this means. China’s boom has been, in a large part, dependent upon their ability to supply cheap labor producing cheap goods which we rapidly buy up. Throughout our readings and discussions, a major theme has been the inability of China’s industries to design and innovate. They are relying on their cheap labor force to pull them onto the world stage. But what if that labor force is no longer there? What if the labor force is no longer cheap? What then? In some ways this may be like pulling the rug out from under China’s feet. They are going to have to look for alternatives. In other articles I read such alternatives consisted of better living conditions and/or some sort of subsidies so that workers would be able to move out of business owned housing and find housing of their own. And , of course, higher wages and better benefits.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Although China’s large population does almost guarantee companies that there will be a long line of people waiting to take on the open positions, can businesses long afford to keep training new employees only to lose a third of their work force every year? While there may be a steady supply of workers, business do not have steady supplies of money and will not be able to sustain such losses indefinitely. My prediction is that in a few years “Made in China’ will have a whole new meaning.

" 'Made in China' no Longer Cheap" by Charlotte Windle

http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/en/web/article.php?article_id=50341