Job search outcomes for migrants and natives in urban China: A case study

This paper uses data from a 2008 survey in Shanghai to examine the impact of job search strategies on employment outcomes for rural migrants and urban locals in urban China. While China’s rural migrants typically rely on social networks to locate better jobs and urban locals traditionally find jobs through formal channels such as state job assignment, this research shows that the historical patterns of job search strategies for migrants and non-migrants have changed and public job channels such as advertisements and job agencies have become more important. However, our results indicate that there are only mild differences on the impact of different job strategies on employment outcomes. For Shanghai locals, finding a job through public channels is positively associated with higher pay, but not with landing a permanent job. By contrast, different job search channels did not make a significant difference in personal income for rural migrants. The results also show that for both migrants and non-migrants, using personal contacts in job searches makes little difference in individuals’ personal income and ability to locate a permanent job. These findings provide critical information in understanding the current labor market in urban China, and they have important implications for previous research on China’s rural-to-urban migration and urban development.