Domestic helpers will get their vacations earlier to avoid a large shortage during the Spring Festival next month.

It is a new method by household service agencies to cope with high demand of domestic helpers during the holiday season.

"Our ayis will return to their hometowns during the Christmas season instead of the Chinese New Year," said Xia Jun, spokesperson at Shanghai EJLL Household Service. "We are still negotiating with them as some still prefer to return during the Spring Festival."

Of EJLL's 500 ayis, about 200 are from other provinces. And 140 of them plan to return during the Spring Festival holiday.

"We run out of ayis every year around this time," Xia said. "Right now there are still 30 ayis who don't want to go back in December."

Since many of the in-service ayis are from rural areas in other provinces, only a few are willing to skip the nation's most important holiday.

There will be at least 30,000 to 50,000 families in need of a domestic helper during the Spring Festival. The shortage of ayis during the period also means salaries go up, according to Fang Lei, spokesperson at Shanghai Jinguoyuan Household Service.

"Their salaries on the first three days of the Spring Festival will be doubled," said Fang.

Some ayis are willing to go back home before the Spring Festival and return to work during the holiday for the extra income.

Contracts with ayis will ask if they can go back home earlier than the Spring Festival, according to Fang. A seven-day notice is needed if the ayi changes plans.

More ayis are recruited from other provinces to make up the shortage, but there will be no quality guarantee.

"We don't have time to train these new ayis," said Xia. "They go to work as soon as they arrive."

(Shanghai Daily December 8, 2005)