As the Spring Festival celebrating the Chinese lunar New Year draws closer, labour shortages have grown more acute in the Hebei provincial capital Shijiazhuang, a local newspaper reported.

As a traditional festival approaches, migrant workers are making their way home leaving many businesses who normally rely on migrant labour without workers.

Hebei Daily reported that the labour shortage is mainly affecting the construction industry, restaurants, and homemaking services.

To tackle the problem, employers have resorted to a series of measures, including wage-increases. The average wage of waiters or waitresses in restaurants in the provincial capital currently stands at 1,200 yuan ($ 182) per month, compared with 1,000 yuan ($ 151) of the same period last year.

Despite the fact that "the wage has increased by 20 percent," applicants are not forthcoming, said an employer of a restaurant, grumbling that nobody was willing to fill the vacancies.

Labour shortages are also reportedly an issue for small and medium-sized enterprises. Shijiazhuang Jingang Group, an enterprise producing internal combustion engine components, is currently in great need of skilled technical workers. An employee working in the Human Resources department said that at present there were few suitable workers out there in job market, as the majority who are available lack the professional skills.

Qiao Quanyong, a director in the city’s office of human resources, said the labour shortages currently exist in jobs requiring skills and that the labour shortage is seasonal.

By Guo Changdong and Chen Keyu