The long holiday to celebrate the start of the Year of the Rooster has given Beijing's wealthier residents something to complain about: a shortage of maids.

Thousands of housemaids and nannies have returned to their hometowns, leaving their employers with a domestic dilemma.

Rather than tackling the washing up and dusting themselves, many have turned to the scores of agencies that have sprung up offering holiday servants for hire. But demand has been so high that many have been left disappointed.

Beijing resident Deng Ningxin had to book a holiday housemaid more than a month in advance when her full-time maid said she would be going home to Guizhou Province in the southwest for the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year.

"Last year I failed to find a housemaid during the holidays and my husband and I had to spend a whole day cleaning," Deng said. "To secure a housemaid, I had to make early preparations this year."

More than 60,000 maids are believed to have left Beijing for traditional family reunions over the holidays. Shanghai and Shenzhen have also seen an exodus of home help.

According to some, the current shortage merely exaggerates an underlying scarcity of maids.

"Shortages of maids have become more serious in big cities in recent years, and are no longer only felt around major celebrations, but all year round," said Zhang Jianji from the China Home Service Association.

"Thanks to economic growth in provinces that previously offered an endless supply of migrant workers, including Sichuan, Hunan, Guangxi and Jiangxi, locals are finding adequately paid employment closer to home," said Zhang.

In Beijing, live-in housemaids earn 500-600 yuan (US$60-72) a month, and offers of 100-yuan (US$12) bonus payments to stay over the festival have not been enough for many.

People pay less for home help in Beijing than in Shanghai and Shenzhen, where maids can earn up to 1,200 yuan (US$145) a month. Those with childcare skills can earn around 2,000 yuan (US$242) a month.

Expats are willing to pay up to 4,000 yuan (US$484) for maids offering childcare and language skills.

Despite the shortages, many other migrant workers are capitalizing on the situation to secure employment.

Beijing Community Service Center, an agency providing holiday maids, has 7,000 new personnel on its books and is enjoying a mini-boom.

"Many households booked holiday housemaid services more than a month ago," said the agency's Di Zhixin. The high demand has boosted fees by 20 percent.

"To attract more housemaids, standard employment rules including training and work insurance system should be introduced in the sector," Di said.

Wang Haiyan, in her early 20s, arrived in Beijing a month ago from her hometown in southwest China's Sichuan Province. She arrived against the outward flow as she had heard it was easier to find work in holiday seasons.

"I am getting on quite well with my client family and I don't mind leaving my home during the Spring Festival," Wang said.

It is estimated that 223,000 households in Beijing will hire full-time domestic helpers this year, and another 225,000 will employ part-time maids.

(China Daily February 7, 2005)