The newly-found power of the Chinese workers

The Washington Post gives a good overview of the impacts of the new Labor Contract Law for workers in China, and its effects on companies. (h/t China Law Blog) The tables have turned, the article says.

It has added to the rising cost of doing business in China -- contributing to an exodus of what is estimated to be thousands of factories from places like the Pearl River Delta in southern China, for 20 years synonymous with cheap and abundant labor and the engine behind China's rapid growth.

What is does wrong it putting too much of the praise or blame - depending what side you are on - on that law. While that is certainly having an effect, the labor shortage in provinces like Guangdong is having a much more profound effect, illustrated in the article by the easy for workers to find a new job when they decided to quit.