While most electronics companies are busily cutting staff, Chinese electronics retailer Gome has announced plans to hire 20,000 migrant workers for its four subsidiaries in China.
He Yangqing, a Gome vice president, revealed that the four retail subsidiaries of Gome — Gome, Yongle, Dazhong, and Sanlian Commerce — will recruit unemployed migrant workers to work in departments such as home appliance distribution, installation, and maintenance. At the same time, these companies will offer pre-job training to these migrant workers to improve their working skills.
As a result of the global financial crisis, many factories and construction sites are closed and a large number of migrant workers have lost their jobs. At present, there are about 20 million unemployed migrant workers in China. In addition, about six million college graduates will join the labor market in five months time. Traditionally retail companies have a large demand for distribution, sales, and maintenance workers, and this offers employment opportunities to migrant workers and college graduates.