【英语中国】企业如何应对中国的加薪时代？

The rules of doing business in China are changing. Until recently, government and companies relied on a quiet workforce, but now managers must contend with assertive demands for higher wages and improved factory conditions. This adds an extra layer of difficulty, but it doesn't mean the country will become less attractive as a base for manufacturing.

The recent wave of strikes at automobile parts suppliers comes as a shock because Chinese workers were so tolerant for so long. The reform of state-owned industries beginning in the 1990s came at great cost to employees, who suddenly found themselves jobless in the twilight of their careers. Yet demonstrations were largely confined to those factories unable to pay wages or severance benefits on time, and seldom spread to local or foreign-owned companies capable of providing stable salaries.

Similarly, China's development was largely made possible by the willingness of workers to uproot their lives and work in giant industrial complexes in the coastal cities. Leaving their parents and homes in the countryside, this army of migrants provided the labor needed to fuel China's giant export machine.

Why are things changing now? Growing income disparities, a new labor law and the inability of local arbitration committees and courts to address a flood of grievances have all set the stage for unrest. Meanwhile, the Internet has become a powerful tool that enables striking workers to quickly communicate the results of their negotiations, threatening to touch off an epidemic of strikes throughout the country if left unchecked.

As a result of the country's economic success, competition for skilled labor has intensified and has already led to a steady rise in wage levels. With higher sales and profitability, many businesses are willing to share at least part of the wealth with employees in order to attract needed human resources. Until recently, wages have largely been set on an individual basis between the enterprise and its employees. Today, however, Chinese workers as a whole have come to the conclusion that they deserve a greater share of the wealth they are helping to create.

The Labor Contract Law enacted in January 2008 was part of a government effort to move Chinese manufacturers upstream to higher value-added products and away from those that rely solely on inexpensive labor for their competitive edge. As such, the new labor law specifically targets factories with poor working conditions. The law also guarantees contracts for full-time employees, limits the use of temporary workers, and sets minimum standards for key employment terms such as working hours, overtime, and severance policies.

These protections have raised employees' expectations and awareness of their rights. Even companies with the most enlightened human resource practices have found that the labor law has increased their employment costs and raised the bar as far as their treatment of workers. Companies with less enlightened policies have suddenly found themselves faced with steep cost increases.

In order to facilitate the enforcement of tougher labor provisions, China has empowered workers to submit grievances to arbitration or file lawsuits. The result has been a sharp increase in the number of labor disputes that have gone to arbitration and the courts. Unfortunately the arbitration committees and legal system have had difficulty dealing with the flood of new cases, adding to worker frustration.

Strikes are usually a last resort for workers because they run counter to the Chinese preference for settling differences through negotiation. Nonetheless, the differences between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in China is widening -- and the stakes are high. If agreement cannot be reached with employers, and if government-appointed arbitration committees and the courts are unable to resolve differences, employees are willing to take to the streets.

With these protests, China is entering a new era where managing an increasingly restless and vocal workforce will be a key success factor for local and foreign-owned businesses alike. Employers would be well advised to get ahead of the trend and increase communication with employees to address grievances. Likewise, local governments need to redouble their efforts to help settle any differences that may arise. Strikes need not be a foregone conclusion, and effective management of the country's human resources by business and government can help break the pattern of costly disruptions that we have seen so far this year.

When the labor law was passed, we took immediate action to manage the expectations of our employees. We communicated the benefits of the new law to our workers, made immediate wage and other adjustments where warranted, and outlined our company's plans for complying with the law. We also compared the working conditions and terms of employment at our factories with others in the surrounding community. This was particularly effective in second- and third-tier cities where our factories tend to be among the most attractive places to work.

In order for the country's economic growth to be sustainable, all of the stakeholders need to feel that they are being treated fairly and stand to benefit from increased prosperity. While some may decry the loss of cheap labor as a source of China's global competitiveness, this is part of the country's healthy transition. Future economic growth will increasingly be driven by domestic consumption, and production will utilize Chinese people's brains, as well as their brawn, to produce products the world wants to buy.

(Editor's Note: Mr. Perkowski is managing partner of JFP Holdings and the founder of Chinese auto-parts maker Asimco Technologies.)

在中国经商的法则正在改变。以前，政府和企业依赖于一个温和安静的劳工群体，到现在，经理人必须直面加薪和改善工厂环境的果断要求。这带来了新的困难，但并不意味着这个国家作为制造基地的吸引力将会减弱。

Associated Press本田汽车佛山一零部件厂工人举行罢工。最近发生在汽车零部件供应厂商的一系列罢工让人震惊，毕竟中国工人这么久以来都是这么的宽容。始于20世纪90年代的国有工业改革，让职工付出了巨大的牺牲；在职业生涯的暮年，他们突然发现自己丢掉了饭碗。但示威活动主要局限于那些不能按时发放工资和下岗补偿的工厂，很少波及能够稳定发放薪资的地方或外资企业。

与此类似，中国的发展之所以成为可能，在很大程度上是因为工人们愿意背井离乡，前往沿海城市的大型工业园区生活和工作。这支农民工大军离开乡下的父母和故园，为中国庞大出口机器的运转提供了必需的劳动力。

事情正在起变化，这是为什么？收入差距的扩大，一部新劳动法的颁布，地方仲裁委员会和法庭无力处置大量申诉，都为劳资纠纷的上演搭好了舞台。与此同时，互联网已经成为一个让罢工工人迅速传播谈判结果的强大工具，如果不受约束，很有可能引发一轮波及全国的罢工风潮。

由于中国经济的成功，对熟练劳动力的争夺已经加剧，早已引起工资水平的稳定攀升。在销售额和盈利能力提高的情况下，很多企业愿意至少把这笔财富中的一部分分给员工，以吸引所需的人力资源。在过去，工资主要由企业和员工之间单独设定。但在今天，中国工人作为一个整体已经认识到，在他们帮助创造的财富中，他们应该分到比以往更大的一部分。

2008年1月生效的《劳动合同法》，是政府推动中国制造企业升级到高附加值产品、抛弃完全以廉价劳动力为竞争优势的产品这种努力中的一部分。所以新劳动法特别针对工作环境恶劣的工厂。这部法律还要求同全职员工签订合同、限制使用临时工，并为工作时长、加班和解聘规则等关键劳动待遇设定了最低标准。

这些保护提高了员工的预期和权利意识。甚至在人力资源方面最开明的企业也发现，新法增加了他们的劳动力成本，并提高了员工的待遇标准。不那么紧跟形势的企业会发现自己的成本陡然增加。

为帮助贯彻实施这部更严格的劳动法，中国允许工人向仲裁机关提起申诉，或提起法律诉讼。于是，进入仲裁或诉讼阶段的劳资纠纷数量大幅增加。不幸的是，仲裁委员会和司法系统难以处理大量新增案件，加重了工人的失望情绪。

罢工常常是工人的最后手段，因为中国政府偏向于通过谈判解决分歧，而罢工与这种偏好背道而驰。但中国“有产者”与“无产者”之间的分歧正越来越大，是一个很重要的问题。如果不能同员工达成一致，而且政府指定的仲裁委员会和法庭不能够解决分歧，员工们就会乐于走上街头。

以这些抗议为标志，中国正在进入一个新的时代，在这个时代，管理好一个越来越不安稳、越来越敢于发声的员工群体，无论是对于本地企业还是外资企业来说都将是取得成功的一个关键因素。如果雇主能够引领趋势之先，通过加强与员工的沟通来解决不满，那将再好不过。同样，地方企业也需要加大努力，帮助解决可能出现的分歧。罢工不必非进行不可，企业和政府对全国人力资源的有效管理，可以帮助化解今年以来发生的那种高成本停工现象。

《劳动合同法》通过的时候，我们立即采取行动管理员工的预期。我们把新法的好处向员工做了沟通，在必要的地方对工资和其他方面立即进行了调整，并制定了本公司遵守新法的计划。我们还把我们工厂的工作环境和劳动待遇同周围的工厂做了比较。这在二三线城市特别有效，在这些地方，我们的工厂往往是最有吸引力的工作单位之一。

要让中国的经济增长更加可持续，就要使有利害关系的各方都觉得自己受到了公平对待，并将受益于经济的更加繁荣。有人或许会痛惜中国失去了作为国际竞争优势来源的廉价劳动力，但这属于整个国家健康转型的一部分。将来的经济增长将越来越受国内消费的拉动，而要生产世界想买的产品，除了利用中国人的体力以外，还将用上他们的头脑。

作者为杰克控股(JFP Holdings)执行合伙人，中国汽车零部件生产商亚新科工业技术有限公司(Asimco Technologies)创始人。