Extending targeted support to graduates: China Daily editorial

The competition among graduates for jobs will be particularly fierce this year. Not just because the graduation season will see a record 8.74 million college graduates enter the labor market. But also because the employment situation is, understandably because of the global public health crisis, somewhat grimmer than usual.

It is concerning that many graduates are having difficulties finding jobs, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday during a visit to a research lab of the automaker First Auto Works Group in Changchun City as part of his inspection tour of Northeast China's Jilin province.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that Party committees and governments at all levels are making efforts to create more jobs, but he also urged graduates to adjust their employment expectations to carve out a space for themselves in the workplace.

To gain an accurate picture of the graduate employment situation, the Ministry of Education launched a nationwide employment data verification campaign on June 17 in a bid to eliminate any falsification of college graduates' employment data.

It is reportedly an open secret among students that they have an obligation imposed on their shoulders to help their alma mater submit a lucrative employment score-sheet. If they can't land a real job in a specific period of time, typically a few months before their school submit the statistics to the authorities, they are encouraged, in many cases forced, to create a false one, so as to ensure their school won't fail the employment quotas assigned.

The national education authorities are resolved to put an end to this practice, and all forms of employment data falsification, including forcing graduates to sign employment agreements and labor contracts, and persuading graduates to sign false employment agreements, are strictly prohibited.

With a more accurate picture of the graduate employment rate, policymakers will make targeted measures to support self-employment and flexible employment which are seen as important ways to stabilize employment and ensure graduate employment in the current circumstances.

In addition to the measures already announced to boost employment — which include expanding postgraduate enrollment, recruiting more school teachers, urging State-owned enterprises to offer more jobs and reducing fees for small and medium-sized private employers, which are the main source of jobs for graduates — subsidies, guaranteed loans, tax relief and other support will be extended to encourage graduates to start their own businesses.

Gig work will also be supported to meet the demand of companies involved in online retailing, smart mobility, online education and training, and telemedicine, among other things.

These policies need to be delivered on the ground as quickly as possible to help graduates find work and make a living.