"I want to qualify as an electrician. Every building needs electricians," says Li, who has a high school diploma.

He left the countryside of Southwest China's Sichuan province in 1990, and has worked in factories, on the exteriors of buildings and in stores, in Beijing, Guangzhou and Qingdao.

"Work was everywhere then, as long as you had enough muscle," he says. "So I never thought about learning any special skills."

As many as 20 million migrant workers nationwide returned home during the Spring Festival without jobs as the global financial crisis brought a halt to urban construction, and factories in coastal areas closed.

Some returned to the cities after the vacation, seeking new jobs. Chongqing, a major source of migrant workers, has more than 3 million workers earning their living outside the area every year. This year, however, the local government estimates that about a million workers will have to stay at home.

Li didn't go home this year to celebrate the Lunar New Year. He stayed in Beijing so that he could continue job hunting.

He applied for a storage job position in an IT company, thinking his past experience would make him a good prospect, but was turned down because he didn't know how to use computer software.

When he went to a job fair organized specially for migrant workers last week, he found that all the advertised positions required some skill set or the other. Only one construction site asked for an extra pair of hands, but even here a driving license - which Li does not have - was required.

He read about the Beijing occupational skills training school on a leaflet for "Spring Breeze Action", an initiative launched by the local labor and social security bureau to help migrant workers find jobs.

He decided to sign up for the primary-level electrician courses.

Jia Lan, one of the course providers, says every day around 20 migrant workers ask about their training courses. Anywhere between 60 and 70 percent of the trainees are migrant workers.

"Most of them prefer to take electrician or welding courses, as these are relatively easy to learn," says Jia.

Yang Chengjie, 25, from Hebei province, enrolled in the electrician course last December. He now works as a shop assistant on a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan ($290), but worries the job is not a stable one, as "anyone can do it".

He wanted to become an auto mechanic, but that could take three to four years, and he cannot wait.

"Becoming an electrician takes less time," he says.

He attends school every Tuesday and Saturday, as he has to keep long hours on the other days. Clearing the primary-level examination will earn Yang a certificate that will allow him to work on low-voltage power systems, such as home appliances. If he wants more choices in the job market, however, he has to pursue the high-level certificate for high-voltage power systems.

"I hear that an electrician can earn 3,000 to 4,000 yuan per month," he says. However, he is acutely aware that many companies are revising their recruitment plans and that their current staff are reluctant to job-hop in today's conditions.

"Anyway, a skill will always come in handy," adds Yang, who has been in Beijing for six years.

The fee for the primary-level courses is about 450 yuan, which Yang can afford, but is beyond Li's means.

"I've already lost my job but I have to pay for the training, I hope the government can do something," Li says.

Last month, the central government ordered the local authorities to organize three to six months of training for jobless migrant workers from this year.

Some provinces, especially the ones with large numbers of migrant workers, have already taken action.

Chongqing and East China's Anhui province both plan to provide training for migrant workers to start their own businesses.

"This year, we will offer training for 50,000 migrant workers," says Chen Xiaoling, deputy director of the Anhui Labor and Social Security Bureau.

In Henan, the provincial government is leveraging a government-subsidized project that will retrain 2 million migrants.

It will allow for each migrant worker to receive 400-600 yuan for short-term occupational training.

Beijing, however, still has no plans to provide free training, according to the municipal labor and social security bureau.

The bureau is focusing on providing employment information for migrant workers and on helping protect their interests while job hunting, says an information officer of the bureau who declined to be named.

"We encourage them to find out which skills the cities really need and get vocational training at home, instead of just coming to the cities."

Although some of Li Zhengwen's friends have returned home, he says he has become accustomed to city life.

"The countryside often lacks electricity and it's difficult to get connected to the Internet," he says.

Li reads the newspapers and looks for job ads on the Internet. "I often sent my resume to all kinds of possible employers via e-mail - that's how I got my last job interview," he says.

"I cannot imagine life without the Internet."

He insists the big cities have more job opportunities. His wife is also in Beijing, doing cleaning work.

But their 16-year-old daughter will go to high school in their hometown in September, which could cost 10,000 yuan a year, an amount well out of reach for the couple, who depend on the 1,000 yuan a month earned by Li's wife.

"Although my wife never complains, I feel the pressure," Li says. "I have to get a job as soon as possible. I hope the skills training course I have signed up for will be helpful."