Originally 16 men came to Shanghai on July 7 after receiving promises from Han Zhaokun, a man who grew up in their town and now runs a local security company.

He guaranteed the men jobs as security guards.

The men trusted Han enough to each pay him 800 yuan (US$96) for setting up the jobs plus 110 yuan (US$13.28) in training fees. Han did arrange a training course for them, which lasted for six days.

"But Han failed to keep his promise and abandoned us after the training," Li Jun, one of the migrant workers said Wednesday.

Having run out of cash, five men decided to head back home to Anhui.

"Without jobs and income, we can hardly afford the nearly 20-yuan (US$2.41) daily food expenditure. We cannot wait any longer," said one of the remaining workers, adding that they have decided to look for other jobs.

But Han insisted that he didn't cheat his town folks as he had already arranged jobs for more than 10 people.

"Currently, no positions are available to them, but they will get jobs," said Han. "It's only a matter of time."

He added that he would return the 800 yuan (US$96) to anyone who no longer wanted to be a security guard, including those who have already left the city.

The case, however, is a typical example of illegal job introduction among migrant workers, said Sheng Zuhuan, vice director of the Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau's employment division.

According to Sheng, only migrant workers directly recruited by local employers or organized to work in Shanghai by their hometown government are legally allowed to work in the city.

Their employers are required to sign working contract and hand in social security fees for them, he said.

"But the majority of migrant workers tend to follow others to seek jobs in the city blindly. That leaves loopholes for fly-by-night job agents," Sheng said.

(Shanghai Daily July 22, 2004)