Shandong goes online to boost employment

To offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the job market, Shandong province has scaled up efforts to take advantage of the internet to ensure employment and promote the resumption of work, the provincial department of human resources and social security said.

Local authorities in Shandong have launched a large-scale online vocational training program free of charge as part of its efforts to improve workers' professional skills and facilitate poverty alleviation in the face of the outbreak.

The province selected some 60 high-quality online professional skills training platforms that provided training to more than 730,000 people by the end of last month, with the digital training resources covering over 100 occupations.

Subsidies have been given to enterprises participating in the program and trainees, especially those having financial difficulties. Poor people participating in online skills training, including migrants, financially strapped workers and unemployed college graduates, have also been given subsidies for living expenses.

After finishing the required hours and credits through online training, local authorities, in cooperation with companies, will provide on-site practice sessions for participants, guaranteeing they will have both the theoretical and hands-on experience needed for future jobs.

An online job fair has also been organized to revive the job market after the pandemic forced migrants to stay at home, depriving them of salaries to support their families.

Zhao Zhigang, a 39-year-old migrant from an impoverished village in Taian, Shandong, was hired by a clothing factory near his home－where he needs to attend his parents－through the online job fair.

"The pandemic barred me from returning to the factory in Guangdong province. The loss of income is no small thing to me and my family," he said. "I never thought I'd be able to get a job through just two phone calls. I'm satisfied with the post and the salary they offered."

More than 2.13 million jobs have been offered to applicants at the online fair, and more than 444,800 people have secured jobs.

By the end of June, about 99.7 percent of the province's major industrial enterprises had resumed production, and over 99 percent of employees had returned to their posts, the provincial department of human resources and social security said.