The recruitment campaign launched by Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province in late January has been bearing fruits, with 19,700 non-local workers hired as of Feb 15.

The campaign, which saw representatives from 191 companies in Taizhou dispatched to cities outside Zhejiang to recruit employees, is part of the city's efforts to help companies deal with the surge in factory orders in the wake of the Spring Festival holiday, which ended on Jan 27.

To attract more people to work in the city, authorities are providing a transport subsidy of 500 yuan ($73.53) to every new employee. They are also entitled to a one-time subsidy of 2,000 yuan after working at the new company for a certain time.

Incentives have also been offered to employers – they can apply for a grant of up to 100,000 yuan for hiring new employees. The government will also sponsor half of the costs incurred from transporting non-local workers to the city by charted vehicles.

Chen Caicong, head of human resources at Baida Seiko Co Ltd, said the recruitment program launched by authorities have helped the company recruit 40 non-local workers and alleviated its labor shortage.