WORKING moms in factories in the Pearl River Delta region, China’s manufacturing hub, can now take a breath to strike their work-life balance thanks to posts designed for busy parenting workers.

More than 30 million migrant workers nationwide have been attracted to the region, with machinery pounding away day and night. In recent years, under China’s encouraging childbirth policies, more and more factory workers have come to the region with more than just one child in their family.

Facing labor shortages and mounting parenting burdens of female workers, some regional factories have launched “mother posts” with more flexible working schedules but the same work content, labor security, and welfare.

Zhongshan Richsound Electronic Industrial Ltd., a foreign trade company, used to lack sufficient workers, said Yu Qing, the company’s vice president.

In 2019, the company visited its nearby villages and found many local housewives willing to work on the assembly lines. However, the traditional working model of production lines disrupts their family life.

After some targeted adjustments on production lines, the company set up “mother posts” for the villagers, where they can be involved in simple production processes. Currently, one-third of the company’s employees are on “mother posts.”

Lin Yumei now can take good care of two children at home while working in the company’s factory. “I had been looking for job opportunities for more than a year. Usual factory work demands long hours of attendance, while the service sector like restaurants has a conflicting work schedule with parenting time,” said Lin.

A “mother post” in her current work at Zhongshan Richsound Electronic Industrial Ltd., however, allows the mother to leave at around 4:30 p.m., the right time to return home and prepare food for her children.

Another local company, Zhongshan Zhiniu Electronic Co., Ltd., launched “mother posts” in 2016. Now, 86 percent of its workshop staff are mothers.

Job fairs targeting mothers have taken place in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, to follow the “she-power” trend. Job opportunities covering clerks, sales, customer services, and the like are offered. More than 2,000 “mother posts” have been provided by the municipal government, helping over 500 women land jobs.(Xinhua)