Guangdong Province, an economic powerhouse in south China, is expected to face a shortage of migrant workers by more than 1 million this year, according to a governmental survey report released Saturday.

The latest sample survey on migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta conducted by the provincial statistics bureau shows that the labor force shortage is getting worse in the Guangzhou-centered Pearl River Delta, after it firstly appeared in the area in 2004.

The survey was carried out among 329 of the 33,000 private firms and companies with capital from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as foreign countries, each of which employed more than 50 workers, in nine cities in the Pearl River Delta.

Since the first half of 2004, according to the survey result, 72.9 percent of the investigated companies met difficulties in recruiting workers.

The shortage, which mainly involved ordinary workers, was chiefly attributed to the low payment offered by labor-intensive enterprises in the area.

Fang Chaogui, director of the provincial labor and social security department, said the region was only short of workers who was paid 500 yuan (US$60.49) or below per month, workers aged between 18 and 25, women workers and those with specific skills.

The monthly salary for migrant workers in Guangdong from the other parts of China stands at 500 to 1,000 yuan on average.

"If a company could provide a monthly salary of 1,000 yuan and above, it will not have difficulty in recruiting workers," said Fang.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2005)