Reform Challenge 

cctv.com 07-19-2005 13:03

For the past two decades, China has been the fastest-growing economy in the world, with annual GDP growth averaging over 9 percent. But the country has had to expand that fast to stay ahead of growing unemployment. Employees of state-owned enterprises have lost the “iron rice bowl” they thought would last a lifetime, and have had to adapt to a market economy. Our reporter Zou Yue recently went to Wuhan to see how the changes were affecting ordinary workers.

Laid-off workers face challenges for new life Everyday they walk into the factory to work, but now they have to worry about their jobs. For the 4,000 workers at the state-owned Wuhan Boiler Factory, the country's reform drive has meant new challenges.

Thirty -five years old Ma Ling worked in this factory for 15 years. But in 2002, she lost her job, something she found hard to accept.

Ma Ling, Employee of Wuhan Boiler Factory said, "It was such a blow. I never imagined that I would get the sack. It was such a big factory and I was so young. How could that happen? My confidence was totally destroyed at the time."

Ma Ling's life depended on the factory. Her parents, her brother and her own husband have worked there all their lives. The change has led to worries about the future. In the days of a planned economy, SOEs offered life-long benefits for workers, from housing and medical care to pensions and insurance. But since 1998, about 30 million employees in China have lost their jobs and the benefits that went with them, due to either downsizing or bankruptcy.

For the workers laid off by China's SOEs, it has not been easy adapting to the industrial reshuffle. But decades of market reform in the country have made Chinese workers realize the importance of finding a way out on their own. For many, it is an inevitable part of life.

Like her colleagues, Ma Ling struggled to find other work. Six months after Ma Ling got the axe, she found a position she found embarrassing for an experienced electrician--workshop garbage cleaner.Ma Ling said, "Although the job was dirty and tiring, I had to take it. After all the losses, I was glad for the chance. It means everything to me."

But between 2000 and 2002, the factory continued to lose money, and had to lay off half its staff. Those who stayed faced tougher competition to stay in their positions. After losing their iron rice bowl, they are now walking an economic tight rope.

To make matters worse, the enterprise was having a hard time feeding its 3,000 retirees. The managers found it was no easy job trying to make ends meet.

Chen Helin, Deputy General Manager of Wuhan Boiler Group said, "We have to make the laid off employees understand that they have to change their mindset. Survival of the fittest is our rule. While we have tried our best to accommodate the employees, the workers have to find their own way of life if possible."

The factory tried to make things easier by to restructuring its remaining workforce on the one hand, while leasing some of its street-front houses for the jobless to run small businesses, like this shopping facade. But there simply is not enough for everyone.

Xu Liangjun, Deputy Director of Wuhan Reemployment Work Office "As an old industrial city, there is a large gap between job opportunities and demand. Since 1998, over 500,000 workers have become jobless in this city of 7 million people. We can only hope the local economy picks up to provide more jobs for them."

Ma Ling was lucky to later get promoted again, but at the same time two of her colleagues got laid off. The reform has changed the lives of many, who have had to adapt to the reality of a new economic environment.

Editor:Wang  Source:CCTV.com