Preparing rural migrant workers for new jobs amid crisis

ZHANG Juwei1(张车伟) and WANG Zhiyong2 (王智勇)
1 Deputy Director and Professor, Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)
2 Associate Professor, Institute of Population and Labor Economics, CASS
Abstract:
Referencing statistical yearbooks and census data, we first estimate the total number of rural migrant workers in China at about 238 million in 2008, including 71.4 million working across provinces. We also estimate how many migrant workers will be affected by the financial crisis and may lose their jobs. The coastal areas are the hardest hit. We predict that China in the first half of 2009 will face the most serious employment situation since the dawn of the new century, and that structural unemployment of rural migrant workers is the main problem. We estimate that around 34.18 million rural migrant workers would be facing the risk of structural unemployment. In order to cope with the shocks to rural migrant workers’ employment, the government should put a policy emphasis on adjusting rural migrant workers to new jobs.
Key words:
rural migrant workers, financial crisis, impact on employment

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