There’s an interesting thread (Link) over on the Core77 forum discussing Chinese factories and labor. Some of the people discussing the issue have recent experience and an inside view of the situation (the thread starter is a Westerner recently hired to work in China). From his initial post:

Living in Hong Kong I have seen the reports about labor rates going up in this area and that there is actually a worker shortage which is further driving up labor prices. I remember in the 90’s labor did not even show up on the bill of materials because it was so small. Now it is showing up and quickly making cheap products more expensive. The labor shortage is also not helped because workers are not returning to the factories because they are owed back wages, in some cases years worth, by the factory workers who have fled with the money. There are also abandoned factories in the PRD as they can no longer be competitive.

This might be worth watching as there are also an increasing number of Chinese designers on the forum. It’d be interesting to hear both sides of the issue from people in the trenches. I sure as heck don’t need interview excerpts from some MSM interviewing a self-serving corporate officer.