Skilled workers don’t get the respect they deserve

Geng Jiahua, chief technician at the Kunming Metallurgical Research Institute, started his career as a bench worker in 1984.

When I was in my teens, I followed my bench-worker father to a skill exchange in a factory. He displayed his mastery of the lathe by making an axle 4 meters long and 8 millimeters in diameter, which was quite a challenging task at the time.

As news spread, the number of observers rose, until there were so many people that they had to climb on top of things to see. When my father finished after two hours, there was thunderous applause. You can imagine how respected senior skilled workers were at that time.

In 1984, when I started working, there was still a very strong atmosphere of commitment in factories. Once, when we had little to do for about three months, I was moved by the dedication of my master. One day, my master, who was age 55 at the time, insisted that I find him something to do, so I collected all the cutting tools for the lathes and asked him to sharpen them.

By the time he finished, the smoke from his tools made it difficult for him to open his eyes, but he turned to me happily and said, “I’m so excited. I feel as though I have just taken drugs.” He was a level-8 bench worker, the highest category, and you could sense his enthusiasm.

In the late 1990s, the social status of skilled workers plummeted. It seemed as though everybody wanted to become businesspeople because the country was attaching so much importance to its economic development.

In the course of the past 30 or more years only one out of every 10 workers that my company recruited stayed for more than a couple of years. It takes years to become a senior skilled worker, so even though they are now in demand, many factories are finding it difficult to recruit them.

At one time, a decent pair of leather shoes only cost about 10 yuan ($1.50), but we could wear them for 10 years. Now,

the price is much higher, but the quality is so poor that they only last a short time. The quality of other products has also declined. The decline of workers’ skills is to blame.

I am pleased the government is attaching greater importance to senior skilled workers. I am a good example. My salary is now equal to that of the deputy head of the battery company I work for. In 2015, I was listed as a senior technician by the Yunnan provincial government, and I have received a special annual subsidy of 30,000 yuan from the government since 2015, although that will end in 2020.

In March last year, the government and my company spent more than 1 million yuan to build a workshop for me, and will also pay about 100,000 yuan annually to keep it in operation for five years. That level of support is unprecedented.

Generally speaking, skilled workers still don’t get the recognition they deserve. We could learn a lot from Germany. They have an evaluation system under which a skilled worker can be promoted to the post of chief technology officer or even director if they are judged worthy.

Geng Jiahua spoke with Hou Liqiang.