In recent years through its frequent interaction with factory managers in Southern China, BSR membercompanies are often audiences to complaints regarding the shortage of skilled labor and high turnover. Recruiting,and particularly retaining, a workforce with broad, marketable skill sets is difficult, especially given that mostfactory workers will readily abandon one workplace for another if offered even a small RMB wage increase.Unsurprisingly, this high rate of turnover has damaging implications for stakeholders:

• By chasing small wage increases in identical jobs at different facilities, factory workers, perhaps unknowingly so, deny themselves any opportunity to expand their skill sets.
• By directing available resources toward basic training of new recruits, factory managers limit their ability to invest in advanced training for existing employees.

At the same time, industry research tells us that the very nature of migrant labor in China is changing.Whereas young women and men previously moved away from their rural homes in the North with the intent of working only temporarily in the South, these same laborers now tend to arrive in Guangdong Province with long-term career plans in mind. As part of this ambition, they are seeking the diverse abilities necessary for more challenging positions.The result is a significant disparity in demand and supply. At one end are factory workers who desire multifaceted expertise, but who may view independent professional development away from the factory.