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Jobs rethink necessary

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-27 07:40

Perhaps university graduates should change their attitudes toward employment now that the economic slowdown has made it much more difficult for them to land a job.

The latest survey in major cities shows that just 35.6 percent of the students to graduate this summer have secured a job, a rate much lower than the 70 percent targeted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) this year.

The decision by the Ministry of Education yesterday to expand enrolment of postgraduates by 50,000 this summer is obviously a measure to alleviate employment pressure from college graduates.

Given that more than 6 million will swarm the job market this summer, withholding 50,000 graduates on campus for two more years is good, but will hardly make a big difference to the situation.

It is obviously necessary for relevant government departments and institutions to try their best to create more jobs. But it is unrealistic to expect that only government efforts will make it possible for most graduates to land a job that suits them.

Statistics from MHRSS suggest that 70 percent of graduates will have to find jobs in private enterprises or service sectors at grassroots level.

Only 1 percent of the remaining 30 percent will have opportunities to work in government departments at various levels. Institutions attached to governments will absorb about 10 percent and State-owned enterprises possibly 7 percent. The remaining 10 percent will stay on campus for further study or study abroad.

Yet, the reality is most graduates are coveting positions in governments, State-owned enterprises or institutions attached to governments. The gap between their ideal positions and harsh realities makes the employment prospects gloomy for many graduates.

Encouraging more college graduates to work in underdeveloped areas, where well-educated human resources are in short supply, is one way the government can help alleviate the situation.

Authorities from MHRSS revealed in an interview yesterday that millions of positions are available in rural schools and service sectors.

The central government has already introduced preferential policies for them to fill them.

What the government needs to do now is to instruct graduates and train them accordingly. Sufficient arrangements must be made to guarantee the preferential policies be implemented to the letter.

That will kill two birds with one stone. Apart from balanced distribution of human resources, graduates put in positions where they are actually needed makes a lot of sense.

(China Daily 02/27/2009 page6)