Web Site Breaks New Ground for China's Migrant Workers
2006.10.30
HONG KONG—A new Web portal that aims to help Chinafs 150 million migrant workers find jobs, training, legal help and social activities is winning backing from officials anxious about social stability in a breakneck economy.
Hangzhou-based Xiao Kewen, 29, is an up-and-coming entrepreneur whose Web portal, Sinomen, has grown from a staff of just two people to more than 50 employees in less than a year.
gMost migrant workers come into the cities looking for work; they need to get a job, and we can provide support,h Xiao told RFAfs Mandarin service.
gAlso we have lawyers so people can get legal help. One woman was helped by us to sort out her problems because her children had been injured. We also have various community services, like online dating,h he said.
Xiao said that when a person sets out from a rural community to find work in the big city, they only fulfill half the criteria for a viable migrant worker.
They must still undergo training and a period of acclimatization to life in the big city, including daily living skills and interpersonal skills.
He said the main problem facing Chinafs economic development as the country became a global workshop was a shortage of skilled labor, with only around 560,000 technically skilled workers available.
It is this skills gap that Sinomen seeks to bridge.