Responding to government calls for migrant workers to refrain from long-distance travel home, some companies in Jiangsu are offering incentives for their non-local employees to stay for the holiday.
A company in Xiangcheng District, Suzhou city, has hung up lanterns on tree branches, adding to the festive atmosphere.
More than 1,000 employees chose to stay behind in Suzhou for the Chinese New Year. On the New Year’s Eve, the company will organize employees to make dumplings, eat reunion dinners, and draw lucky gifts. It will also subsidize 200 yuan per person per day for employees who work overtime during the Spring Festival, and will award a five-day paid leave after the holiday.
The Xiangcheng district government has announced to reward the employees staying behind for the spring festival a stipend of 500 yuan per day from February 11 to 17. The companies will reward their employees 100 yuan per day.
Authorities in Lianyungang district of Nanjing and Guan’nan County of Lianyungang have made contingency plans to reward the employees who will stay behind for the spring festival.
The Jianhu County authorities have required companies to strengthen epidemic prevention and control plans and material reserves in a bid to help companies solve the problems encountered in the course of production during the Spring Festival.
Chinese authorities have called on people not to return to their hometowns to celebrate the Spring Festival, but stay where they live and work during the holiday to reduce personnel flow.
Efforts will be made to stagger travels and encourage online shopping during the holiday, and the winter vacation schedule and commencement of the spring semester for schools will be arranged carefully.
The approaching Spring Festival holiday will see more returnees from overseas, gatherings, and imports of cold-chain food and cargo, which will bring more challenges to epidemic prevention and control efforts.
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Feb 12 this year.
