BEIJING, Aug. 27 -- Shenzhen employers raised their salaries by about 10 percent at a weekend job fair at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center to help jobseekers meet rising prices of food and housing in the city.

    "An engineer will now ask for a monthly salary of more than 6,000 yuan (789 U.S. dollars), at least 1,000 yuan higher than that of a couple of years ago. We have raised the annual salary of a senior engineer from 80,000-100,000 yuan to 120,000-150,000 yuan," said Chen Lu, a human resources director with Dongju Electronics Co.

    Ms. Zhang, a human resources director with Shenzhen-based software company ABAS, said the company also raised its salaries by more than 10 percent.

    Engineers and senior technicians remained top of the wanted list of the employers.

    An employer with Shenzhen-based Han's Laser Technology Co. Ltd. also said the company had raised subsidies offered to its employees.

    "Living costs have increased and so of course I would demand a higher salary," said jobseeker Mr. Chen, who earns 4,000 yuan a month and is looking for a job with a monthly salary of 5,000 to 6,000 yuan.

    Despite the increased salaries, employers have found it increasingly difficult to hire the professionals they need. "Many professionals have turned to the Yangtze River Delta, which offers more attractive salaries," said Chen Lu.

    Han's Laser offered more than 400 vacancies for engineers at the job fair, but had few applicants, said Liu Liu with the company's human resources department.

    Zhang with ABAS also said the company could not get a software engineer despite an annual salary of more than 50,000 yuan.

    About 25,800 jobseekers attended the fair, competing for 20,000 vacancies provided by 320 companies including local communications giants Huawei and ZTE.

    A cameraman walks on a road amidst smoke in the village of Zacharo in south Peloponnese, about 350 kilometers from Athens on Saturday. Greece's worst forest fires in decades have killed at least 51 people and the death toll could rise.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily)