Problem description:
Please introduce the current situation of labor service in China in detail.
Analysis:
The labor service company is an intermediary service company. It is managed by the labor and personnel department.
According to the World Trade Organization's regulations on service trade, international labor export belongs to the fourth mode of service trade, that is, the movement of natural persons. 2 1 century, with the acceleration of economic globalization, the international movement of natural persons has become increasingly frequent. However, labor protectionism still exists in importing countries, and major labor exporting countries actively expand foreign labor export in various ways. After more than 20 years of development, China's foreign labor cooperation has become one of the advantages of service trade export, but it has also encountered many obstacles and problems. In addition, the country has not yet had a corresponding financial promotion policy, which makes China's labor services with strong competitiveness have a low position in the international market. On the basis of analyzing the achievements and existing problems of China's foreign labor service cooperation, and drawing lessons from the experience of other developing countries in labor service export, this paper puts forward some policy suggestions for further developing China's foreign labor service cooperation, aiming at expanding the quantity and quality of foreign labor service, making it truly an advantageous industry in China's service trade, and playing a more active role in creating employment, increasing foreign exchange income and social stability.
First, the status quo and achievements of China's foreign labor cooperation
Foreign labor service cooperation is one of the earliest service industries in China that went abroad and made great achievements, and has become the focus of China's service trade export. The achievements of China's foreign labor cooperation are as follows:
1, the development speed is relatively fast, and the number of migrant workers increases rapidly.
Since the reform and opening up, China's foreign labor cooperation has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results. 1983? In 2002, the contract value of labor cooperation increased from $65.438+0.25 billion to $2.752 billion, with an average annual increase of 65.438+0.767%. The turnover increased from1360,000 USD to 307 10/0,000 USD, with an average annual growth of17.83%; At the end of the year, the number of foreigners increased from 3 1 10,000 to 488,400, with an average annual increase of 15.62%.
2. The number of business entities has increased rapidly, and franchising has replaced the organizational system as the main channel.
At present, the Ministry of Commerce has approved more than 2,000 enterprises with the right to operate foreign labor service cooperation, including 400-500 labor service franchise companies. With the continuous expansion of labor cooperation business and the increase of labor cost in China, pure labor cooperation has become the main channel of foreign labor cooperation.
3. The market is relatively concentrated and the service fields are increasingly diversified.
China's foreign labor cooperation covers 189 countries and regions, with Asia accounting for about 3/4. The service fields are increasingly diversified, involving industry, agriculture, construction, service, environmental protection, high technology and so on. In 200 1 year, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, transportation and construction accounted for 3 1.5%, 26. 1%, 15.8% and 65438 respectively.
4. The level of overseas labor services has been gradually improved, and the international competitiveness of laborers has been enhanced.
The personnel structure of expatriate labor services has developed from middle and low-grade construction workers in the 1980s to a pattern in which high, medium and low-grade labor services coexist and high and medium-grade labor services are increasing. International competitiveness has increased, and many labor exporting countries have listed China as their main competitors.
5. Create a large amount of foreign exchange income for the country.
At present, the turnover of foreign labor services in China is more than $3 billion, but this is only the basic salary of laborers, excluding overtime and odd jobs, which are often more than wages. Therefore, the actual income is much higher than the above figures, which is an important source of foreign exchange income under non-trade in China.
6. Significant social benefits, benefiting the country and the people.
As a special commodity, the social and indirect benefits of labor export are more significant than their direct economic benefits. Open up new employment channels and solve the employment problems of a considerable number of people; Let some families get rich; The overall quality of workers has generally improved; Expand business network through labor cooperation; A large number of export-oriented talents have been trained; It has promoted the development of domestic civil aviation, finance, insurance, post and telecommunications and other related service industries; It has deepened understanding and friendship with the host country and expanded political and economic exchanges between China and other countries in the world.
It can be seen that foreign labor cooperation benefits the country and the people and should be vigorously promoted and developed.
Second, the current problems and obstacles in China's foreign labor cooperation
Although China's foreign labor cooperation has made remarkable achievements, it only accounts for 15% in the international labor market, which is far from the potential of China's labor force and the traditional million-scale labor exporting country. This is related to the existing problems and obstacles:
1, the labor law is not perfect.
At present, there is no national legislation on China's foreign labor service cooperation, which mainly depends on the departmental regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce.
The administrative department has played an important role in managing and standardizing the behavior of foreign labor cooperation industries, but the enforcement and punishment of laws and regulations are not enough, so it is difficult to effectively curb illegal business activities.
2. The macro-management system of labor cooperation is not perfect.
It still hasn't got rid of the brand of planned economy, which is incompatible with the development trend of modern market economy and international market, such as market disorder caused by multiple policies; The management system does not meet the requirements of the international market; * * * The supervision system is not perfect, and there is no effective means to maintain the market operation order and the legitimate rights and interests of dispatched workers; Management is basically based on control, lacking corresponding promotion and support policies.
3. Some departments and localities have insufficient understanding of the importance of developing foreign labor cooperation.
As an important way to solve the employment problem, foreign labor cooperation has not been promoted and developed in various ways, and there is a lack of strength in organization, planning and guidance, corresponding national legislation and financial support measures, and insufficient positive publicity and reporting on labor cooperation.
4. The labor market is in disorder.
Many foreign companies are an important reason for the chaotic market operation. In addition to the formal companies approved by the Ministry of Commerce, many ministerial and provincial branches and affiliated enterprises also engage in overseas labor services without approval, and some self-employed individuals also handle overseas labor services in disguise. Irregular low-price competition disturbs the market order and it is difficult to eradicate arbitrary charges.
5. The formalities for laborers to go abroad are complicated, and the period of obtaining licenses is too long.
In 2002, China promulgated and implemented the Measures for Handling the Procedures for Laborers Going Abroad, which ended the practice of going abroad with official passports for many years, gradually integrated with international practice, and simplified the procedures to a certain extent. However, there are still many problems in handling personal passports. First, there are too many materials needed. Second, the cycle is too long. Third, the public security department handles passports regardless of visas, and the cost of going abroad is high and difficult.
6, labor cooperation information is ineffective, there are not many channels, and the information service system is not perfect.
The sources of labor information in China mainly rely on the business consulting offices of foreign embassies, foreign companies and institutions, temporary groups and personal relationships and some news media. There are few information channels and no unified information processing network, which leads to a lot of repeated information processing and information waste.
7. The service system of * * * has not been fully established.
Including financial, financial, insurance, foreign exchange, intermediary organizations and other social service systems. For example, the state finance has no financial support in foreign labor cooperation; The deposits and loans of laborers before going abroad are not guaranteed; There is no special risk insurance for overseas labor services; There is no mandatory requirement for the remittance of foreign exchange for overseas labor services, and some expenses will occur for each remittance. A considerable number of laborers did not remit foreign exchange income back to China through normal channels; As the only intermediary organization, the foreign project contracting association needs further development. From the beginning of going abroad to the end of going abroad, the ordinary labor force involves a huge social network, which requires a lot of time, energy and economic costs.
Three, the current policy to support foreign labor cooperation and its evaluation
It is true that the development of China's foreign labor cooperation cannot be separated from the strong support of all levels of departments. The central and local governments pay more attention to foreign labor cooperation than ever before. Premier Zhu Rongji clearly pointed out in the Report on the Outline of the Tenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development that "we should continue to develop foreign contracted projects and labor cooperation". But in fact, foreign labor cooperation does not enjoy the same preferential policies as commodity trade and other service trade, and policy support can not meet the requirements of the international market and the needs of business development.
At present, the starting point of the national foreign labor service cooperation policy is basically "strict management" and less consideration is given to "policy promotion". "Strict management" has indeed played a positive role in regulating the operation of China's foreign labor cooperation, but due to the lack of "policy promotion" measures, the potential of foreign labor cooperation is far from being brought into play. It can be said that the foreign labor service business is basically developed by relying on the strength of the operating enterprises themselves, which has earned a lot of foreign exchange income for the country and reduced the deficit of China's service trade to some extent.
In fact, the WTO has no explicit provisions on subsidies for trade in services, that is to say, the WTO has not restricted its members from subsidizing trade in services at present. In fact, many developed and developing countries subsidize the export of service trade in different ways. For example, both the United States and Britain subsidize their own construction enterprises in foreign market investigation, information service and market development. Many developing countries are also taking active financial support measures to encourage the export of labor services, and have achieved certain results.
Facing the fierce competition in the international labor market in the 2nd/Kloc-0th century, China's foreign labor cooperation should achieve the objectives of the 10th Five-Year Plan and make greater contributions to increasing employment, creating foreign exchange income and social stability. At the macro management level, we should learn from the successful experience of other countries and strengthen the following work:
1, objectively understand the nature and function of foreign labor cooperation.
Labor service is a special commodity, therefore, in the process of foreign labor service cooperation, all kinds of disputes are inevitable, all over the world, without exception. The key is to control the possible negative impact in business development to a minimum. China has a large population, and foreign labor service cooperation is an important part of implementing the "going out" opening strategy, making full use of both domestic and foreign resources and markets, an effective way to relieve domestic employment pressure and realize re-employment, and an important factor to increase foreign exchange income, improve talent quality and social stability. Therefore, all kinds of personnel, including high-tech talents, should be actively encouraged to work abroad.
2. Accelerate legislation on foreign labor cooperation.
On the basis of synthesizing the existing departmental rules, relevant laws with national perfection, foresight and operability will be promulgated as soon as possible, so that China's foreign labor cooperation will reach a new level in the process of legalization.
3. Strengthen market development.
Sign bilateral labor service agreements with countries with more labor service cooperation and great potential; In the new round of multilateral trade negotiations of WTO, we should make full use of WTO rules, while opening up the domestic market, strive for the access opportunities of developed countries' labor markets and realize "market for market"; Strengthen cooperation with India, the Philippines, Indonesia and other labor exporting countries, and promote more open labor markets and mutual recognition of academic qualifications and qualifications in developed countries.
4. Increase financial support for foreign labor cooperation.
The export of service trade is the weakness of China's foreign trade export, which needs the support of the state, while foreign labor cooperation is a project with comparative advantages in China's service trade "going out", and it needs to provide financial support for foreign labor cooperation to promote the expansion of service trade export and reduce the deficit. In view of the fact that WTO has no explicit restrictions on subsidies for trade in services, we can learn from the Philippine practice and increase financial support in combination with the actual situation in China, such as establishing a "foreign labor cooperation development fund" or expanding the scale of the original foreign trade promotion fund, and setting up a "special fund for foreign labor cooperation" under it.
5. Gradually move closer to international practice in practice.
Learn from the successful experience of other labor exporting countries, gradually implement the agency system, and further clarify the rights, responsibilities and obligations of operators, laborers and relevant departments.
6. Vigorously rectify and standardize the market operation order.
Standardize the behavior of business entities, maintain market order, and support powerful and high-quality labor service companies; At the same time, it is necessary to protect the interests of operators and handle disputes fairly according to law.
7. Effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers.
Basically, it relies on national legislation, cooperates with foreign trade, diplomacy, public security, foreign institutions and other relevant departments to solve problems, and on this basis, gives legal aid, financial support and consular protection. Formulate a rigid and unified charging method and strictly implement it to solve the problems in charging.
8. Strengthen the skills training of overseas labor services.
In order to meet the growing demand for professional talents in the international market, the * * department should guide enterprises to strengthen skills training, cultivate professionals who can meet the market demand, and establish a talent pool for expatriate workers.
9. Improve the service system of foreign labor cooperation.
Intensify positive publicity in the whole society, establish an extensive social service system, including information services, finance, foreign exchange services and other social services, and strengthen cooperation with foreign affairs, public security, labor and other departments.
10, and further strengthen the role of intermediaries.
Increase the role of foreign contractors' association in industry self-discipline, business promotion and standard coordination.
In a word, the development of foreign labor cooperation is influenced and restricted by many factors, but the macro management of * * * is very important. Establishing and perfecting the overseas labor service management system, which not only conforms to the overall requirements of the socialist market economy, but also has China characteristics and is in line with international practices, supplemented by corresponding promotion measures, will make China's foreign labor service cooperation achieve a qualitative leap.