Han Fenglian, who lives in Daquan Village of Horseshoe Township of Sunan County, told journalists that in the past winters, people just hang around or spent time in the sun.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, the loudspeakers in the village, WeChat groups, and text messages remind them every day that they should stay at home, do not have party, and do not walk around in groups.

Therefore, they have time to stay at home to do embroideries, insoles and other crafts, and earn money through selling them.

She said these handicrafts were taught by Han Xueqin, head of the Horseshoe Feitian Farmer Embroidery Professional Cooperative, through WeChat. Selling handmade products can also subsidize their daily expenses.

Han Xueqin said they have received more than 30,000 orders viainternet since the outbreak of the virus, and most of the orders are from Tibet. She allows employees complete orders in their own homes. If they want to clarify something, they can communicate via WeChat any time. By staying at home everyone can not only prevent the spread of the epidemic but also finish the work.

Pan Xiaohong, who works in Sunan County Arts and Crafts Studio, teaches staff members how to make handicrafts such as handmade beaded jewelry, folk embroidery, and wire flower weaving through online videos.

She said women staying at home can learn to make handmade products because most of them are familiar with the skills of needle and thread sewing. They can use their free time to make handicrafts at home, plus also generate income.

In order to ensure the stable employment and skilled training and the needs of job-seeking workers after the Spring Festival, Sunan County held an "Online Training Course for National Costume Cutting and Embroidery Workforce Skills" through Ding Talk live video and participate in "one-to-many" teaching and "one-to-one" answering to let women staying at home utilize their time better.

La Yanxia, chairman of the Sunan County Women's Federation, said ethnic handicrafts, as a traditional industry, have advantages such as large market demand, low input costs, low employment thresholds, and broad prospects for income growth.

It is an effective way to help poor women get flexible employment and get rid of poverty.

In recent years, Zhangye city has taken "Longyuan Skilled Hands" training as a powerful starting point for implementing women's precision poverty alleviation, established seven women hand-knitting associations, organized expert training teams for hand towels, and built eight city and county-level demonstration bases, trained 13,000 skilled hands, cultivated 21 hand-knitted enterprises (professional cooperatives), established 67 family workshops and 42 micro online shops, created more than 50 hand-knitted brands.

With annual sales of tens of millions of yuan, hand-knitting has become a new industry that absorbs surplus labor and women's entrepreneurship.

On February 16, Sunan County Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Zhangye City started the 2020 Online Labor Skills Training Course. Unlike in the past, this training course is online.

At the training course, Pan Xiaohong, the lecturer of the course of "Cutting and Embroidery of National Costumes," placed the mobile phone and picked up the needle and thread to start live webcasting hand-knitted crafts.

Recently, the Sunan County Human Resources and Social Security Bureau changed its service mode and adjusted the original on-site skills training to online training and recruitment, making it convenient for local farmers and herdsmen to train and apply for jobs.

At the same time, the bureau has issued three recruitment notices via the internet, with 35 positions posted.

(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)