People’s Daily reported that Premier Wen Jiabao chaired a State Council Executive Meeting Work Conference on December 16, 2011, during which the Council established the “Employment Plan for 2011 to 2015.”
The Council predicted that the eligible labor force will grow one million each year during the twelfth five year plan (2011-2015) compared to the eleventh five year plan (2006-2011). There will be increased friction because labor skills will not always be consistent with job requirements, with labor supply and demand, as well as with the ever increasing employment pressure.
The Council set the employment target for the twelfth five year period. It will include the growth of 45 million new jobs in urban and rural regions, reallocate 40 million from the surplus labor force in the countryside, keep the unemployment rate below 5%, enable social security benefits to cover the entire labor force, and improve the stability of the employment environment.
The meeting listed plans on how to meet the target: increase economic development, implement a favorable employment policy, better coordinate the job market for the urban and rural regions, implement training plans for the technically skilled and high tech labor force, and improve the flexibility of the labor market.
The Council also discussed the topic of improving fire prevention work.
Source: People’s Daily, December 16, 2011
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