Beijing's housekeeper shortage hits like a monsoon every year, as so many workers return home for the new year holidays and don't come back. Employment agencies try everything to increase recruitment - with one now even planning to auction off workers.

The 10 housekeepers slated to "go under the hammer" this month are all college graduates. Their starting annual salaries will be 40,000 yuan.

Although questions linger over such an auction, the first of its kind in China, it could help in revealing some of the industry's deeper problems.