A property developer in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, not only refused to pay its 2,000 migrant workers' wages on time, but also beat them up when they had the audacity to demand for payment, leaving 37 wounded. more ›

A new social insurance law that will apply to foreign employees from July 1 may make it significantly more expensive for companies in China to hire expatriates. more ›

For all you “qualified experts” out there, permanent residency is at hand! Shanghai officials have finalized the regulations allowing highly qualified professionals to stay in this fair city as long as they like. more ›

The Philippines have been exporting college graduates to work as domestic helpers / maids in other countries for many years now, but now, their Chinese counterparts are looking to do the same domestically:

Desperate Chinese graduates, facing grim job prospects amid slowing economic growth, are clamouring to find posts as nannies and domestic helpers for the rich in one southern province, state media reported on Wednesday. more ›

Beijing News reports a weird measure taken in a company in southern China. According to aujourdhuilachine.com, a company that makes loudspeakers has demanded that its employees keep quiet during work hours — otherwise they'll be asked to wear a protection mask for 3 days! The company explained the decision (taken in May) that they want to preserve the production's quality standards:

"If our employees talk, they are bound to splutter and it will do harm to the equipment parts."

This report from the Russian town of Navashino in the Nizhny Novgorod region offers a fascinating glimpse at how cheap Chinese labour is changing the face of its neighbours. From Russia Today:

As Russia's economy changes, many locals are coming to terms with the need for thousands of unskilled, foreign workers. Business owners say foreign workers often work long hours and for little money.

Daily allowance on long-haul flights: NZ$55 (RMB310) more ›

According to the annual Mercer Human Resources Consulting report on the cost of living, (download a pdf of the top 50 here) Shanghai is now ranked 20th out of the 144 cities surveyed. This report has the complete listings at the bottom and states that Beijing coming in at 14th place and Shanghai at 20th has to do with the fact that the yuan is no longer solely pegged to the US dollar. Most of the changes in the 2006 report have to do with currency fluctuations rather than economic collapse, natural catastrophe or war -- which is why Tokyo dropped from 1st place, to be replaced by Moscow. If you consider the cost of living report and the quality of living report together, you can only come to one conclusion: New Zealand. Auckland and Wellington are among the few places that do well both in cost of living and quality of living -- more bang for the buck. more ›