"Li Xudong, left, and a colleague filling order forms in Beijing. Mr. Li has struggled to find work." Image: Gilles Sabrie for The New York Times.

In a kind of cruel reversal, China’s old migrant class — uneducated villagers who flocked to factory towns to make goods for export — are now in high demand, with spot labor shortages and tighter government oversight driving up blue-collar wages.

But the supply of those trained in accounting, finance and computer programming now seems limitless, and their value has plunged.
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