China Speakers Bureau: Demographics behind the labor unrest

Arthur Kroeber by Fantake via Flickr

The recent unrest at Honda, Foxconn and other manufacturers in China are only the start of a change in the country's demographic structure, Arthur Kroeber tells The Washing Post.

"This is the thin end of a very long wedge," said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of GaveKal-Dragonomics, a research firm. He said the number of 15- to 24-year-olds in China is set to fall by one-third over the next dozen years, from 225 million today to 150 million in 2022.

Kroeber noted that as the number of young workers declines, the number of factories needing laborers has increased rapidly. "This is the beginning of a long process in which bargaining power is going to shift from the company to the workers," he said.