3 ms·
A very large proportion of workers in technology factories are internal migrants. Many of them will have grown up on subsistence farms in the poorer regions of
by jdietrich 9y ago
A very large proportion of workers in technology factories are internal migrants. Many of them will have grown up on subsistence farms in the poorer regions of China. Like most migrant workers, they're working hard and saving money towards a planned future. They overwhelmingly prefer factories with dormitories, because it keeps their living costs down and allows them to save more money.
"Exploitation" is a subjective and loaded term, but the labour market in Shenzhen and the broader Guangdong region is extremely competitive. There is a general shortage of labour and those workers are highly mobile; as a result, wages are increasing rapidly in all major cities. Low-skilled, low-margin industries like textiles have been largely priced out of the Chinese labour market, with all but the most sophisticated production moving to lower-wage economies.
I won't pretend that China is a utopia, but it's doing a very good job of improving the living standards of ordinary people.
- pm90 9y agoAh that makes sense. So what you're saying is that these laborers put up with the harsh working conditions in order to retire to a better life back home in their "native" province/village?
- extrapickles 9y agoAlso, the harsh conditions in the factories are much better than the much harsher conditions they faced back home (eg: living in mud huts , starving if the harvest is slightly poor, doing heavy manual labor for >12hrs a day).
- jdietrich 9y agoThey have the same hopes and ambitions as any of us. Some of them want to move back home and build a house, some of them want to start a business, some of them just want the chance to put their kids through college. Cities like San Francisco and London are full of people who live in cramped shared apartments and work ridiculously long hours. Some of them are graduates working for a startup, some of them are immigrant labourers working in construction. They're not planning on staying there forever, but they've chosen the best opportunity available to them.
- peterburkimsher 9y agoI went to the factory in Zhongshan even though it wasn't paid, because the conditions were better than I faced in Europe. Free food and accommodation were all I needed! When I found a job that actually paid money in Shenzhen, I moved there, and life was alright. Before China I'd been trying to find a job in the Netherlands but failing to do so. Before that I'd spent all my savings on trying to be a missionary in the UK, but then nobody had actually donated so it wasn't sustainable. After China I went to Korea to start studying Ph.D. at KAIST. The university promised me a scholarship, but they didn't pay, and I dropped out after my savings from China were gone. Then I went to India for 5 months to work for a social enterprise for free accommodation and 120 USD per month for food (it was barely enough). Finally, I got a job in Taiwan, and life has been wonderful since then - food and shelter are no longer a worry, and I can save up to fly and visit my family once or twice a year.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoTextiles have been priced out of the pearl river delta, but there are plenty of regions in china where it is still going strong (as you say, where the internal migrants come from).
- peterburkimsher 9y agoI can confirm this. My girlfriend works as a draughtswoman making Gerber designs for clothes (just like I did for PCBs before). Her company's factory is in China, but the design work is done in Taiwan. Then they sell their products to be branded by US chain stores (e.g. JC Penny, Macy's).