Record-high Chinese grads struggle to secure jobs(2)

Stronger-than-ever employment promotion

Faced with the record-high supplies, Chinese governments have made greater-than-ever efforts to boost employment.

The Shanghai education authority, for instance, is considering an experimental program to encourage university graduates to engage in social services, but detailed incentives have yet to be released.

In northern China's Hebei province, graduates who opt to start their own businesses will receive government subsidies. Graduates opening small businesses are eligible to enjoy preferential treatment in loans and social security outlays.

The Ministry of Education has also issued an order to ban employment discrimination based on gender, household registration and educational background.

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Government announced that it would offer a monthly subsidy of 2,700 yuan ($439.12) per person to 2,500 graduates who majored in agriculture, husbandry, forestry and water resources and are willing to work in rural areas for two years.

At the end of their service, the regional government may offer them preferential admittance into the civil service or they may enjoy a 10-point bonus in the entrance exam for postgraduates.

In a gesture to boost employment, Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited a human resources development and promotion center and a vocational school in Tianjin over the past two days.

He said that employment is a worldwide problem, but one that is vital to people's livelihood.

The issue must be addressed from an overall perspective. A fundamental way to boost employment is to expand the economy, he noted, adding that the greater the Chinese economy is, the better the job market.

China's economy expanded by 7.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, lower than the 7.9 percent seen during the same period of last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The year's economic growth target is 7.5 percent, while the increase in new jobs is projected at 9 million, with the registered unemployment rate for urban and township dwellers set below 4.6 percent.

Structural challenge

Luo Xiaochuan, an official with the Hebei Provincial Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, thinks the current employment problem is structural.

"Graduates are jockeying for a position in big cities and towns, expecting good opportunities, while employers in less-developed regions fail to recruit who they want," said Luo.

Citing a survey in Hebei, he said that science and engineering majors are more welcome in the job market than arts majors.

About 63 percent of science and engineering grads have landed a job so far, standing in sharp contrast to 20 percent of arts and economics majors.

Moreover, gender preference also exists among employers, as 70 percent of the surveyed companies prefer to recruit male employees.

About 63 percent of female graduates polled said they felt more stressed than their male classmates, according to Luo.

Meng Yanjun, a staff member in charge of admission and employment with the Hebei College of Industry and Technology, sees the changing preferences of the younger generations as an obstacle to their employment.

"Graduates born in the 1990s care more about working environment and welfare. They are very particular about wages and the nature of work," Meng said.