ANALYSIS OF LABOUR MARKETS CHINA AND RUSSIA
... GENERAL SITUATION OF LABOUR MARKETS 1. ... CHINA AND RUSSIA CHINA China has experienced a high-speed development during the past 20 years. Although seriously affected by Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, China still achieved 7-8% increase in the late 1990s, which was really commendable under the circumstance that the global economy increase slowed down. ... China has achieved 8. ... RUSSIA In 2002, Russia’s GDP is USD$345.9 billion, the 16th economy equity in the world (MFA: Country Brief-Russia). In the first half of 2003, Russia was expected to achieve 7. ... In 2003, Russia absorbed USD$69billion foreign investment (Russian Embassy: Brief Information 2003). However, Russia’s economy increase largely relies on energy export, and the fluctuation of world energy price has very strong influence on the country economy. ... LAWS AND REGULATIONS In China, the basic law governing the employment relationship is Labour Law. As the national economy is developing rapidly, China is now facing series of social problems, which were never known to the public 15 years ago as a result of lack of laws and regulations. Chinese government has reviewed National Labour Law, and new components such as motivation and minimum wage have been added. ... Due to the large population pressure, labour-force-intensive industries are the priority of both central and local government. ... In this respect, it is more attractive for the company to locate the plant in China. The Womens Rights Security Law, which is to secure female employees to share equal rights with male employees, should be noted because female employees are more popular in labour-intensive industry. Russia is facing similar problems. ... Formal socialist legal system has been abandoned and it was easier for Russia government to build up a new legal system. Now Russia has integrated laws regulating employment relationship and payment. Quite different from China, Russian government is facing a pressure of population decrease. Russia’s population has been decreasing in the past 10 years and will definitely affect the supply of labour force (State Committee on Statistics: Russia Handbook: 2002). ... 3 EMPLOYMENT SYSTEMS The employment systems of the two countries are outlined through the following four aspects: - How people get employed The employment system in Russia is more similar to that in western countries. ... The situation in China is much simpler. ... Although standard form of agreement is suggested by Labour Law, there is still enough space for negotiation, which is actually in favour of employer. ... Day work employment is very new in China and there is no contract for that. ... - Types of organizations In Russia and China, there are government owned organizations, private companies and individual businesses. ... In China, there are large numbers of state-owned commercial companies, which is quite different from western countries. ... However, it seems foreign investors have more flexibility in labour selection. ... In Russia, few companies provide such training except government-owned companies provide training courses once per 3-5 years. In China situation is different a little bit. ... - HRM - General relationship between employer and employees In Russia, employer has more responsibility for employees. ... These traditions are still influencing today’s HRM style in Russia. Situation in China was almost exactly the same as that in former Soviet Union 20 years ago. ... Severe competition in employment gives employees fewer options, and the booming of low-skill, labour-intensive industry seems to have simplified HRM in private sectors to Order-and-Obey relation between employer and employees.