The annual shortage of nannies in the capital because of Spring Festival was eased a little further last week when 60 housekeepers from Hebei province arrived in Beijing.

"All 60 are nannies who have received 20 days of professional training in Zhuozhou, Hebei province," said Liu Qing, director of Fanyang Homemaking Service Company, the organization that brought them to the city. "They can help to assist the homemaking service industry in Beijing."

Fanyang is known for its maternal healthcare and its nursery service.

The 60 nannies, who are aged from 25 to 45, are well educated, Liu said. Thirty-five graduated from senior high school and 23 from junior high school.

"Medical professionals and highly-qualified doctors from Beijing were invited to Zhuozhou to lecture them on maternal and babies' healthcare," Liu said.

The company, which was founded in 2007, has provided homemaking services to about 3,000 families in the city.

Liu told METRO that more than half of the new influx of nannies had already started work.

"We hired more than 900 nannies and maternal healthcare staff during the past year and the number will increase this year," Liu said. "Beijing is a large market for homemaking services; more highly-qualified service staff will be needed in the future."

Beijing Youth Daily reported the likely shortage during Spring Festival, caused by the exodus of nannies heading for their hometowns, could mean housekeepers will earn 200 yuan a month more in February than they did during the rest of the year.

Li Dajing, director of Beijing Homemaking Service Association, told the newspaper the group of 60 nannies hired by Fanyang will be the last influx of migrant housekeepers invited to the capital before Spring Festival.

Other housekeeping agencies have brought in nannies and maids from other provinces in recent weeks to meet the demand.

ColeClub, one of the city's biggest housekeeping agencies, recently brought in housekeeping students from Hebei province.

"I am happy to practice what I learned in the class," said Meng Ying, a 20-year-old college student invited by ColeClub in January. "Helping those families will make our holiday more meaningful."

BHSA estimates 160,000 families in the city will find difficulty in locating housekeepers during Spring Festival.

(China Daily 02/08/2010 page26)