BEIJING - The annual exodus of migrant workers returning home for the Spring Festival is causing a major strain on urban services and disrupting many urban residents' lives.

"The Spring Festival is creating a severe shortage of sanitation workers in Beijing," said Guang Hong, the owner of an outsourcing company that works with government agencies to clean residential streets in the capital.

Guang is proud to be an exception by keeping all his employees at work for the Spring Festival. He hires more than 300 people, mostly migrant workers in their 50s and 60s.