Gao Menzhong's office overlooks an arched stone bridge with intricate sculpture spanning a canal in Suzhou. The 1,000-year-old waterway was before part of the Grand Canal that linked the eastern city with the capital of ancient China.

Inside the lobby of his company, some 400 young people, sitting elbow to elbow, are working on recruitment tests. Another 50 to 70 people in their early 20s are still queuing outside. They are waiting for job offers at factories producing cellphones, LCDs, hard drives - and cookies.

"Every year more than 100 million Chinese migrate around the country for employment. I want to be the bridge, linking labor-abundant regions with the booming coastal areas that need labor," says Gao, general manager of Humanpool Human Resources Co Ltd.

Humanpool is one of the largest blue-collar labor outsourcing companies for the Yangtze River Delta, a manufacturing power in East China.

With subsidiaries in seven cities, the six-year-old company provides about 6,000 workers every month to more than 200 companies, mostly from the United States, Japan and Europe.

Workers sign a labor contract with Humanpool and are then hired by its clients as temporary workers. Companies pay their salaries and insurance through Humanpool, which also provides housing and training.

Humanpool's profit comes from commissions paid by companies, usually about 80 yuan per worker per month. About 20,000 workers now have signed contracts with the company.

The service is popular among employers who need only seasonal or project-based workers. As demand changes, opening a new production line could require hundreds of workers quickly immediately.

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