Economy

Fees for finding maids increasing

By Karen Yip (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-08 13:58

BEIJING - Dissatisfaction with Chinese maids for various reasons has given rise to the demand for Filipina home helps, and those in the business of offering domestic household services are cashing in to fill the gap.

VeryMaids Co, an agency in Beijing that markets itself as a provider of professional domestic helpers, raised agency fees from 10,000 ($1,496) to 15,000 yuan in August for those interested in hiring Filipina maids.

Among its high-profile clients, said Adam Yin, a representative of the company, 10 percent of them are seeking Filipina maids, knowing it is forbidden by law.

These days business is brisk and the company, which started operating in March, might again raise its agency fees to 20,000 yuan before the end of this year. Initially, Filipina maids were not included in VeryMaids Co's service offerings but following high demand the company started to cooperate with partners from the Philippines.

A Filipina maid's salary is about $500 a month, higher than the average Chinese counterpart but almost equal to a high-level Chinese domestic worker, or ayi in Chinese. However, it is not easy to hire a Filipina maid on the mainland. On average, it costs a total of 25,000 yuan to start the process of hiring a Filipina maid in Beijing. It is 5,000 yuan more in Shanghai, said Yin.

It takes between one and two months to complete the hiring process. At VeryMaids, for example, a client pays 6,000 yuan to Filipino organizations for assisting in the cross-border recruitment, another 8,000 yuan in agency fees and an additional 1,000 yuan to cover the cost of training in Chinese culture and etiquette.

In addition, an interested client is also responsible for a Filipina maid's visa fee, which is between 6,000 to 8,000 yuan, and 2,000 yuan for an one-trip flight ticket.

Demand for Filipino maids on the rise Related readings:  Foreign maids risk brush with law  Made-to-order maids lacking in the capital  No-maid-in-Beijing problem leaves families stressed  Training helps ease maid shortage

Because China's labor market is closed to foreign maids, interested recruiters of Filipina maids have to own a company for the sake of official documentation to enable cross-border recruitment to begin.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has a complete management system for workers who go abroad. Twenty professional domestic workers' companies and organizations listed on POEA's website have partnerships with Chinese companies, including VeryMaids. They help Chinese agencies to conduct screenings and interviews for background, qualification and personality checks.

VeryMaids takes videos of these interviews and shows them to interested Chinese families. When the maids arrive in China, they are authorized to work as one of the company's staff, but they are, in fact, domestic household helpers.

The movement of Filipina maids to China, just like the movement of goods and ideas, is a product of globalization. However, the local market is dominated by ayis.

Luo Yue, manager of a domestic service agency that has been in operation for eight years in Beijing, said her foreign clients prefer to hire Chinese ayis rather than Filipina maids because they want to learn about Chinese culture and taste Chinese food.

Jing Jing, 28, from Beijing, who has a nine-month-old child, had a string of bad experiences with domestic helpers and is now trying to find a Filipina maid.

She had to change her ayi four times in nine months when the maids had to leave citing personal reasons. Adjusting to a new carer has not been easy on her baby.

"An ayi left without notice. Another left because she was keen to start her own business. The most recent one threatened the family, demanding a salary hike. I'm disappointed with Chinese maids," Jing said. She terms the market for Chinese maids as lawless and out of order.

"An ayi can find reasons to leave the family at any time. There are no laws or a system to regulate this market," said Jing. "There is also no clear standard for pricing, service and training."

Following consultation with maid agencies, she found that hiring a Filipina maid is a protracted business.

"I am looking forward to the opening up of the market to foreign maids, especially to Filipinas. The competition can improve the domestic helpers' market and it will benefit Chinese households," Jing said.

Du Juan contributed to the story