Easing the Transition to City Life

China’s economy has accelerated at a double-digit rate over the past decade. Today, 220 million migrant workers—the backbone of the country’s growth—live and work in China’s cities. Although they have moved to the cities in search of a better life, many of these workers quickly discover that city life is more difficult than they imagined.

Migrants, mostly young people with little education or training, often end up employed in factories, where they are unprepared for the work environment, unaware of their labor rights, and have unrealistic expectations of life in the city. As a result, many become transient, moving from job to job.

“There is a high turnover rate in the factories. Every day, workers leave, and the factories have to hire and train replacements,” says HHD’s Wen-Chia Chang. “Even those factories that comply with labor laws, provide a safe and healthy working environment, and offer incentives to workers face the same challenges, and they are eager to find a solution.”

A needs assessment, conducted by HHD’s Asia office in collaboration with the Foreign Capital Project Management Center State Council Poverty Alleviation Office in China (FCPMC), found that migrant workers’ lack of relevant information and training prior to migration contributed to the instability.

“We learned that migrant workers often quit their job because of dissatisfaction and unmet expectations,” explains Chang. “They have no relevant information about factory and city life prior to migration and often have an unrealistic or ideal image of it. Since it’s not what they expected, they tend to quit after a short period of time.”

To address these root causes, a new pilot project managed by HHD and FCPMC has begun in Sichuan province and will provide specific training to villagers who are interested in seeking employment in the garment industry in the city.

The four schools involved in the pilot will assess the workers’ capabilities prior to migration, and based on the needs and requirements of Adidas supplier factories, they will be trained in specific skills such as sewing sports shoes. They will also receive pertinent information prior to migration about working in a factory and what to expect living in the city.

The two-year public-private partnership builds bridges between public training schools in this rural province and factories in the city. It brings together a range of partners, including the Chinese government, factories, public training centers, and international nongovernmental organizations, to create a model that will help migrant workers develop their skills and successfully make the transition.

“We believe that preparing migrant workers prior to their employment will enhance their overall satisfaction and understanding about working in factories and living in the city. And this will decrease the turnover rate,” says Chang. The project aims to create an effective and sustainable recruitment mechanism that can be scaled up and replicated to other industries.