Feb. 26 – Despite having one of the largest populations in the world, China’s shortage of migrant workers is expected to continue in selected areas in the country says a government survey.

The survey took stock of the migrant worker situation in China through interviews with 3,239 companies and 9,081 migrant workers working in 26 large-and medium-sized cities in 13 provinces.

According to the results released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, labor demand after Chinese New Year rose by 15 percent compared with the same period last year and the average number of job vacancies is forecast to reach 143 per company.

Majority of the companies surveyed anticipate a labor shortage after the Spring Festival holiday. Eight percent of migrant workers replied that they would not go out to look for work while 62 percent said they would go back to work after the holiday.

The four commons offered for not returning to their former job after the holidays was mainly due to low salary, overtime, no potential for development and inability to learn techniques.

Previously only China’s wealthier coastal areas reported labor shortages but now even inland areas are complaining of not hiring enough. “We planned to recruit 300 people and we prepared cars for the applicants to visit our company and factories, but there are far fewer than we expected,” an employee of household appliance manufacturer Midea told Xinhua during a job fair in Anhui.