Millions of laidoff and relocated workers by state-owned enterprises get another chance at employment by gaining new skill sets, according to an article by China Daily.
"It's better than I expected and it is good to learn something else in my new position," shared Yang Hangmin, a 46-year-old blast-furnace worker who has been relocated to the human resources department of a privately owned decorating company.
He was one of the 9,000 employees relocated by Hangzhou Iron and Steel Group. It's not the only state-owned company forced to relocate or lay off thousands of its workers. Longmay Mining Holding Group, a state-owned company that operates four mines in Heilongjiang Province, was also forced to relocate about 22,500 of its employees into different sectors, including timber, public service and agriculture.
The relocation and restructuring of these uncompetitive state-owned companies were the result of the government's re-organization efforts to curb excessive production, particularly in the cement, steel, glass and coal industries.
Although some people remain optimistic that these relocations can provide added skill sets and perspectives, the slowing economic growth in the country poses a serious threat to workers as more layoffs threaten to create a big impact on China.
According to Wang Yongqing, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association, the relocation of workers in sectors completely unrelated to their original line of work is one of the most pressing problems that China experiences in its efforts to cut production.
"If the country wants to cut production within industries that have overcapacity, such as steel, by 30 percent, there will be 3 million people who need to be relocated," said Wang in an interview with China Daily.
"We need to deal with it very carefully because it is not only a problem of whether we are able to cut excessive production smoothly, but it is also related to the benefits of employees and to social stability," Wang added.
As a means to solve the relocation problem, the Chinese government plans to allocate 100 billion yuan ($15.3 billion) in the next two years to relocate employees from sectors dealing with overcapacity.