As college graduates in China are having a hard time landing jobs, People’s Daily published an article suggesting that graduates “reset their career perceptions.”
The article acknowledged that college graduates are facing “employment difficulties.” However, certain small cities and rural areas and certain industries have “recruitment difficulties” and “labor shortages” — according to People’s Daily, the “job paradox” is due to graduates’ (possibly unrealistic) preferences for jobs with internet platform enterprises, technology companies, modern service industries, or government jobs. Among the 2024 job-seeking graduates, 62 percent want to work in state-owned enterprises or government agencies, the article reported.
The article’s proposed solution to the difficulties facing graduates is to “mobilize the government, universities, and companies to change students’ job perspective.” The government should increase its promotional efforts and actively guide college graduates to adopt new career perspectives; universities should actively develop new career concept training and labor education courses, strengthen school-enterprise connections, take companys’ order to train students with specific, targeted skills; companies should expand career development opportunities and enhance their attractiveness; families should create a diligent and progressive atmosphere for their children’s healthy growth and future career development; and university graduates should be independent and face the reality.
{Editor’s Notes: China produces around 10 million college graduates each year, and there are just not enough white-collar jobs to employ all of them. On the other hand, manufacturers face shortage of labors. Jobs in manufacturing, however, are not only low paid (many have been filled by migrant workers, i.e. rural peasants who have migrated to cities) but also lack in job security (as many employers in the manufacturing sector face the pressure of a tough economy and the squeeze from the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) that the government wants to expand).}
Sources: People’s Daily, June 14, 2024
http://theory.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0614/c40531-40256286.html