In today’s NYT, an article described the labor shortage in Shenzhen, China. I think this article gave a false cry. I can’t imagine that China will lack cheap labors. I read Chinese news reports. All I see is there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed fresh high school and college graduates and there are still millions of layoffs in many cities.
Shenzhen is a different city. In early days, due to the special economic policy, it had recruited many young and cheap workers from rural areas to work in factories with very low payment. Overnight, Shenzhen became one of the most prosperous cities in China. One consequence is that the living cost there is skyrocketing. Most migrating workers now just cannot afford living there.
Since the middle of 1990s, economics is also booming everywhere. Opportunities are abundant. A physically capable labor worker can find equally tough and low paid job in any city. Educated young people are also more willing to stay in civilized cities such as Beijing and Shanghai (Including satellite cities) rather than in culture desert such as Shenzhen.