China: Workers stage protests after layoffs by COVID test kit manufacturer

Beijing [China], January 12 (ANI): Workers staged protests in China's Chongqing, a megacity in southwest China after thousands of workers were abruptly laid off by Zybio, Inc., a manufacturer of COVID test kits, Bulgaria-based financial blog site Zero Hedge reported.

Online videos show workers demolishing boxes of COVID test kits, vandalizing the company's offices, and clashing with police in riot gear. They threw water bottles, plastic boxes and cones at police officers who ran away from the protestors.

The unrest began when Zybio suddenly laid off nearly 8,000 employees, according to workers interviewed by the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times, reported Zero Hedge. Employees were told that they could leave for the Chinese New Year, two weeks before the occasion, Zero Hedge reported.

According to the company website, Zybio is a leading manufacturer of in vitro diagnostic reagents and equipment, based in the Dadukou District of Chongqing.

Many of the employees laid off were hired by the company in 2022 to meet the urgent demand for tests under China's zero-COVID policies. After the Chinese government abruptly abandoned its zero-COVID policy, putting an end to mandatory testing, the pharmaceutical manufacturer was hit hard.

A Zybio worker confirmed that the protests were sparked by the company's abrupt layoffs, Zero Hedge reported.

"The company told us to leave, but it didn't tell us when to come back and if it would pay us our wages," Xiaodong said, as quoted by Zero Hedge. Xiaodong said that Zybio had promised a 3,000 yuan (about $438) bonus to workers who would work for the company before and after the Chinese New Year.

Recently, the media reported that currently, in China, about 20 million people aged 16 to 24, are out of work in cities and towns, according to CNN calculations based on official statistics. The official data put the urban youth population at 107 million. The data does not include rural unemployment.

According to The Hongkong Post, "The youth unemployment rate in China has hit new highs this year, rising from 15.3 per cent in March to a record 18.2 per cent in April. It continued to climb for the next few months, reaching 19.9 per cent in July. The rate fell slightly to 18.7 per cent in August, but still remains among the highest ever, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed."

About one out of five able Chinese are out of jobs due to severe unemployment which can be attributed to COVID. The country faces an economic down-spiral as top companies operating in China lay off their employees. (ANI)