JOBS WHITE PEOPLE WON'T DO:

Every day, two quality-control supervisors monitor four robots tirelessly assembling remote-control devices for home appliances at a Midea Group factory in Foshan, in the southern province of Guangdong.

The robots recently replaced 14 workers on the plant's assembly line for remote controls. And soon, according to Midea's Home Air Conditioner Division Deputy General Manager Wu Shoubao, more robots will arrive to replace the quality-control supervisors.

Midea, a major appliance maker, is in the forefront of a full-blown charge by China's manufacturing sector into robot-powered factory automation. Companies nationwide over the past five years have ramped up robotics in the face of labor woes, such as worker shortages and rising wages, and to cut their production costs. In the process, they've helped build a new market for Chinese robot manufacturers that are competing against multinational rivals.

Labor shortages are partly linked to what Wu says are changing attitudes among young workers. Young adults historically formed the backbone of the country's assembly-line workforce, but he said many born between 1990 and 1999 now shun manufacturing jobs for other pursuits.

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