Factory owners in both the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta are feeling the pinch of labor shortage. As orders pile up, they are trying all kinds of methods to recruit workers, including waiting outside bankrupt factories. Some experts say the labor scarcity will last until the fourth quarter.

In Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, workforce authorities said the gap between jobs and workers jumped 21 percent in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. "Last time we saw such severe shortage in the manufacturing industry was in 2005," an official told the 21 Century Business Herald..

Companies and governmental agencies on the east coast have been asking the inland and Western regions to supply more migrant workers. A human resources manager said the company is using all possible channels to find workers, including using job hunters, going to job fairs across the nation, posting ads, requiring existing employees to refer talent, and offering special monthly stipend to prospective workers..

At Hui Li Feng Toy Factory of Donguan, Guangdong province, general manager Dai Xiuying is regretting letting go 200 workers since last October. Now the company only has 100 workers left and is having a hard time recruiting, Qi Lu Evening News reported..

A government official in Chongqing city in West China told a local newspaper that going to the east coast to be a migrant worker is no longer an attractive option, because Beijing has introduced a series of polices to support the agriculture sector and local employment, and also because the export-led manufacturing industry still faces much uncertainty.