Great push aims to get graduates jobs

China has unveiled a series of supportive policies and measures to increase employment opportunities for young people, especially college graduates, including organizing training programs and improving services for job seekers.

The latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the surveyed unemployment rate for young people in urban areas has dropped in the past five months, due in part to the supportive policies and stronger economic growth.

According to the NBS, the unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds was 14.5 percent in June, a drop of 0.4 percentage points from May. The number peaked at 16.9 percent in February, decreasing to 16.5 percent in March and 15.8 percent in April. These calculations don't include students.

As the graduation season begins, the central government has intensified its efforts and support for college graduates, whose population is projected to reach 12.22 million this year.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released an action plan in June, offering comprehensive employment services to fresh graduates and those aged between 16 and 24 who are unemployed. The intensive plan will run from this month to December.

The plan highlights providing assistance to young people having difficulty finding employment due to coming from a poor family or having a disability. Psychological counseling will also be provided to those struggling to find work.

The plan will also tighten oversight on the human resources market and crack down on fraudulent hiring practices and discrimination.

Chen Yongjia, deputy director of the ministry's employment promotion department, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the employment of young people, especially the college graduates, is of great importance to people's livelihood and the nation's economic development, and is being paid close attention to by the central government.

He said the ministry is prioritizing finding work for college graduates and channeling resources and supportive policies to assist them in landing jobs. The ministry has increased the frequency of job fairs held nationwide and provided training in fields such as the digital and green economy to give graduates more opportunities in getting a job.

"For young people who've been laid-off and graduates facing difficulties finding jobs due to poor family financial conditions or a disability, we are making efforts to give them priority in job recommendations, internship opportunities or assistance from the government. We will make every effort to keep developing new job opportunities and provide useful employment services to young people so that they can find employment promptly," Chen said.

Local authorities have already released details based on the ministry's plan. The Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau recently activated a program to offer employment assistance, including career planning consultancy, government policy explanation and skills training, to fresh college graduates and laid-off workers from this month to December. The city has set a target of providing over 90 percent of its new college graduates with employment assistance by the end of this year.

From the beginning of this year, central departments have introduced a number of policy combinations to increase employment opportunities for young people.

In April, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance released a notice urging local authorities to create more job opportunities for young job seekers and to enhance their services for them.

The notice includes a series of detailed supportive measures for employers, encouraging them to create more job opportunities. Companies and social organizations hiring fresh college graduates or those yet to land jobs within two years after graduating can receive one-off subsidies from the government. The subsidy, which expires on Dec 31, is around 1,500 yuan ($210) for each person they hire.

Skills training is highlighted in the notice, with the aim of establishing 1,000 micro majors as supplements to traditional majors, and 1,000 vocational skills training courses at universities across the nation to optimize students' skills and improve their chances in the job market.

The notice also sets a target of inviting 1 million college graduates to attend skills training programs this year, and developing training courses in artificial intelligence, big data and smart manufacturing.

In May, the Ministry of Education unveiled a "sprint plan" aiming to promote the high-quality employment of college graduates through August.

In the plan, deans of colleges and universities are encouraged to intensify their visits to companies to win more job openings for their students. Colleges and universities are required to enrich services at job fairs on campus, inviting local human resources bureaus to set up booths providing employment services, information on skills training and entrepreneurship guidance to students.

Colleges and universities have also taken action to help graduates find suitable work by implementing career consultancy programs and using technologies like AI to improve the graduates' resumes and their professional competence.

Renmin University of China in Beijing has developed a smart career services platform that opened to students from March last year, with which the students can get interview practice, resume analysis and improvement, and career evaluation or consultancy through AI or smart tools. The platform has been used over 610,000 times so far.

Since 2014, the university's career consultancy program called LEAD — meaning leadership, exploration, ability and devotion — has invited experienced professionals from sectors such as public services, finance, the internet and law to give yearlong career planning guidance to the students. Nearly 3,000 students have been involved in the program, and about 400 professionals are included in its tutor pool.

Students and graduates from Zhejiang University in East China's Zhejiang province have been able to take part in mock AI interviews since 2022.

Yang Hanyi, an economics master's graduate from the university, has used the AI interview tool as part of her job preparation. "I can get a rough idea of what the job interview will be like and the possible questions I may encounter. Using the tool has helped me reduce my nerves in real interviews," she said.

chengsi@chinadaily.com.cn