China joins global wageindicator

WageIndicator director Paulien Osse

A team of the Renmin University in Beijing has started the Chinese leg of the Wage Indicator, has kicked off by putting the minimum wages of the whole of China online. In April a questionnaire will be put online and that should be the beginning of an effort to get more grip on wages in China, depending on the success of its online operation. It might take another year at least before usable data are coming out of the systems, since because of the huge differences in China, data from some of the larger regions might be needed.
Target is to get in a few years 75 countries into the system that will allow to compare wages on an international scale.
Up to 70 participants will join the 3th Global Wageindicator Conference in the Netherlands on 15 and 16 April, including a delegation from China. Academics, national operators of the 35 countries that are now online and new media experts.
One of the key discussions will be on how make salary calculations in different countries comparable, one of the current main challenges of the project.
I will be attending and giving a clinic on weblogs and other tools to engage in a conversation with the different target groups the project is addressing: academics, employees, employers and relevant government organizations. The conference will not be broadcasted, we might set up some online communication channels, but as it looks now, it will be mainly focused on the participants of the conference.