Archive for the ‘China Labor Issues’ Category
Monday, April 7th, 2008
A friend building a factory in the deep interior of China recently called me with tragic news. One of his Chinese operators had been killed in the machine the worker was tending. It seemed it all happened within ten minutes: the victim’s work partner had gone off to get some ...
Posted in China Society, China Labor Issues | No Comments »
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
I recently had the pleasure of meeting an old Shanghai Chinese friend in Shanghai, Greg. He is tall, early forties, a handsome fellow with broad smile and a reserved demeanor. I always enjoy getting together with this friend, who travels a great deal within China, between China and Japan, and ...
Posted in China Development Trends, China Labor Issues | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 25th, 2008
Decades ago, when I was an undergraduate in University, my paternal grandfather and I used to have countless talks whenever I was on-break from Cornell. Actually, he did most of the talking. I just listened, like the dutiful grandson and namesake that I was. He was bound to his bed ...
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Friday, January 18th, 2008
“So this is a Chinese company you’re talking about?” I asked my friend, Frankie (not her real name). Frankie is a young, vivacious German woman in her late twenties (NOT pictured at left; that's Barbarella, just in case my younger readers didn't know). Her thoughts faster than her words can ...
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Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
Kevin (not his real name) was one of the first individuals I met when I first moved to Suzhou, nearly five years ago. A jovial British chain smoker with a chronic, liquid cough and a pot belly that rivals any nine-month pregnant woman’s carriage, the sixty-something year old Westerner is ...
Posted in China Society, Expat Life, China Labor Issues | No Comments »
Friday, December 28th, 2007
“They fired a Chinese girl who had parked her little electric scooter on a delivery ramp twice in a row,” one of the Western guys I was drinking with said. “The first time they warned her,” he continued, “the second time they fired her in front of everybody. She ...
Posted in Expat Life, China Labor Issues | No Comments »
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
I met a friend, George (not his real name), recently in a local bar here in Suzhou, just after work. He looked like he had had a long day, his face drawn, pinched, his shoulders slumped. He slouched into the chair beside mine. “Actually,” he said, “it’s been a long ...
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Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
I recently had lunch with the charming Chinese manager of a multi-national recruitment firm and with a mutual client of ours, the Chinese General Manager (GM) of an American manufacturer. In fact, the recruiter had actually conducted the search and interviews that resulted in the Client hiring the Chinese fellow ...
Posted in China Labor Issues | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
I recently had lunch with an American manager of a services company in Shanghai. The company provides office services predominantly to Western companies investing in China. His staff is overwhelmingly Chinese. The company is growing rapidly.
We talked about how hot the labor market is in Shanghai now. John (not ...
Posted in China Labor Issues | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 29th, 2007
The past couple of weeks I’ve been catching up with young Chinese professionals with whom I’ve been acquainted for several years, and with one who I just met. All work in Shanghai.
Wen (not his real name) is a Chinese lawyer, schooled in the UK. He’s worked for European and ...
Posted in China Labor Issues | 2 Comments »
