How to further strengthen employment stability—— Mid year Economic Research Tour - Employment Chapter Livelihood | Talent | Economy

Beijing, July 19th (Xinhua News Agency) - Question: How to further strengthen employment stability—— Mid year Economic Research Tour - Employment Chapter

Xinhua News Agency reporter

Employment is the greatest livelihood and the fundamental support for the economy. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first half of the year, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate in China was 5.3%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the first quarter, indicating an overall stable employment situation. It is worth noting that the issue of youth employment remains prominent.

How to relieve the employment pressure of college graduates? How to view the structural problem of coexisting "employment difficulties" for some people and "recruitment difficulties" for some enterprises? How to make further efforts to stabilize employment? The reporter recently visited enterprises, talent markets, and universities in Shaanxi, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shandong, and other places to feel the warmth of the job market and understand new trends in promoting employment.

Stable while under pressure - the overall employment situation has improved, but overall pressure and structural problems still exist

"With the stabilization and improvement of the economy, the demand for enterprise employment and offline recruitment are recovering, and the labor market is also becoming more active." Song Xiaoqiang, director of Xi'an Talent Service Center, introduced that in the first half of the year alone, public service institutions in Xi'an held nearly 300 job fairs, and recruitment activities for college graduates became more intensive in July.

Song Xiaoqiang's observation is also supported by macro data. In the first half of the year, 6.78 million new urban jobs were created nationwide, an increase of 240000 compared to the same period last year, and the employment scale steadily expanded. However, at the same time, the external environment is complex and severe, and the domestic economy still faces downward pressure, while the employment situation remains stable and under pressure.

"Indeed, the recruitment volume has not yet recovered to the level of 2019. Some industries are still in a recovery period, and some enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are facing difficulties in operation. Therefore, the pace of recruitment will slow down, inevitably affecting employment," said Song Xiaoqiang.

Some graduates told reporters that they have been working hard to find a job this year, but the time cycle from receiving resumes to finally being admitted has become longer. In addition, many units require certain practical experience, but due to the impact of the epidemic, there was indeed a lack of offline internships.

Xiao Chen, a 2023 undergraduate graduate majoring in law from a regular university in Hunan, said, "I still hope to have a higher starting point for my first job. However, large enterprises have fewer positions in humanities and more applicants, making me less competitive compared to graduates from key universities. Therefore, the results of my resume application are not ideal, and I have not yet found a job that meets my expectations."

"The overall pressure and structural problems of current employment still exist, with young people facing both 'job seeking difficulties' and some industries facing' recruitment difficulties'," said Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics.

"Since the beginning of this year, the recruitment of industries such as living consumption and new energy has increased rapidly, but the recruitment demand of enterprises related to the Internet, real estate construction, education and training, which are favored by college graduates, has recovered slowly," said Li Qiang, executive vice president of Zhaopin Recruitment.

However, from the job search perspective, the number of new growing labor force and college graduates who need to work in urban areas this year has reached a new high, and many international students have returned to China for employment. The competitive pressure and the obvious mentality of graduates seeking stability have further increased the difficulty of job matching.

At the same time, some industries and enterprises are facing difficulties in recruiting, especially the shortage of high skilled talents and compound innovative talents.

Yang Pengjiang, Deputy Director of the Employment and Entrepreneurship Center at Chengdu Ginkgo Hotel Management College, introduced that the number of units recruiting on campus has significantly increased this year. Domestic five-star hotels and globally renowned hotels are also recruiting, and the student job ratio can reach 1:3, which means that one person can choose three positions. But if the company provides grassroots positions, the willingness of students to go is not strong.

"We have developed rapidly in recent years and urgently need outstanding talents in materials, machinery, electrical engineering, and other majors from key universities. The minimum offer for master's students is 250000 yuan per year, but it is still not enough to recruit." The person in charge of a private 3D printing equipment manufacturing enterprise in Xi'an said that they plan to recruit 100 graduates in 2023, and currently only 80 are recruited.

Li Jing, a human resources specialist at Sichuan Jiuzhou Yuanheng Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company is recruiting for positions such as video shooting and editing, game testing, and new media operations. Although there are many graduates who have applied for resumes, there are very few who meet the requirements in terms of technology and abilities. "Most students' learning is still theoretical and broad, and they rarely participate in practical projects. However, companies hope to be able to get started as soon as they are recruited."

Multiple recruitment agency heads have reported that due to the impact of the overall environment, companies have become more cautious and picky in recruiting in the past two years. This not only raises the educational threshold, but also clarifies the requirements for job seekers' skills. This has led to more prominent problems of "employment difficulties" coexisting with "recruitment difficulties" in small and medium-sized enterprises and manufacturing enterprises.

Focusing on tackling difficulties - the top priority is to promote early employment and good employment for college graduates

Faced with the key and difficult issues in the field of employment, since the beginning of this year, in accordance with the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, various regions and departments have highlighted the work of stabilizing employment. The reporter felt during the interview that from government departments to universities, all parties are working hard and working together to promote employment with greater efforts and faster speed, especially to promote early employment and good employment for college graduates.

"We are formulating a recruitment plan for fresh graduates," said Zhu Shuang, the Minister of Human Resources at Shandong Tai'an Transportation Group, pointing to the computer. In the past few years, the epidemic caused serious losses for the company, but with government assistance, a workforce of about 2700 people has been maintained. This year, the business has improved and it has been decided to attract new forces to promote development.

She calculated an account for the reporter: "By reducing the unemployment insurance rate alone this year, companies can reduce expenses by about 3 million yuan, mainly used to pay employee wages. In addition, delaying the payment of unemployment and work-related injury insurance can also alleviate the pressure of more than 1 million yuan in capital turnover."

Enterprises and other various business entities carry the employment and entrepreneurship of 600 million people, which is the key to stabilizing the employment foundation. Since the beginning of this year, China has continued to implement policies such as stabilizing job returns through unemployment insurance, reducing social security rates, providing skill subsidies, and expanding job subsidies, using real money to help enterprises alleviate pressure and overcome difficulties.

The reporter learned from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security that from January to May, the National Unemployment Insurance Fund stabilized employment expenses by 54.7 billion yuan, reduced unemployment insurance and work-related injury insurance rates by 71.7 billion yuan, and issued employment subsidy funds by 42.9 billion yuan. The policy dividend continued to translate into practical results for enterprise development.

Based on changes in the external environment and the needs of the employment situation, many provinces have recently increased their policies to stabilize employment. After preliminary sorting, more than ten cities including Beijing, Heilongjiang, Henan, and Hubei have issued a package of policies to optimize, adjust, and stabilize employment since the end of June. Many cities such as Shaanxi, Yunnan, and Hunan have specifically launched "policy packages" for the employment of college graduates.

Wang Xiaolong, Director of the Employment Promotion Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, introduced that Shaanxi has introduced six new measures, including increasing employment subsidy standards and providing fully subsidized entrepreneurship guarantee loans; At the same time, the number of policy positions in state-owned enterprises and public institutions will be expanded to 85500. "Make every effort and tap into the maximum potential to help graduates achieve good careers."

On July 14th, at the Shaanxi Provincial State owned Enterprise Special Recruitment Fair for Graduates from Unemployed Universities, 3000 new positions were concentrated and made their debut. Xiao Gao, a 2023 undergraduate graduate majoring in Mechanical Engineering from Xi'an University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said, "I am more interested in finding a position that matches my major in state-owned enterprises. After receiving the notice, I came early and two of the companies I applied to have already provided interview arrangements."

The government is making every effort to stabilize employment, and universities are also trying their best to enhance employment services.

"The leaders of the college have visited enterprises and expanded their positions in mainland provinces, cities, and prefectures multiple times to explore recruitment needs and strive for more suitable positions for students. Although graduates have left the school, we will continue to promote positions to unemployed students and encourage them to find employment through multiple channels." Yang Pengjiang introduced.

Yang Pengjiang said that the specialty of hotel management has its own technical content, and now more needs "+big data" and "+Internet". "The next step is to conduct interdisciplinary teaching, such as cultivating future hotel revenue management talents, which can achieve stable employment and improve employment benefits."

Proactive response - adapting to the needs of social development and continuously improving the quality of employment through multiple measures

"After years of expanding enrollment, over 218 million people in China have obtained university degrees. Setting aside the short-term fluctuations in the economy, young people, represented by college graduates, always face employment choices and challenges. This is not simply something that can be resolved in the last few months of graduation, but should be optimized and improved throughout the entire training process," said Zeng Xiangquan, director of the China Employment Research Institute at Renmin University of China.

The reporter observed that in the face of changes in the employment environment, the group of college students has been adjusting their development paths. More and more people choose to actively connect with the needs of the workplace, improve their abilities down-to-earth, or engage in more diverse forms of employment based on their own strengths.

"After interning at the company, I found out that I had previously applied for quality control positions with unsuccessful resumes, but in reality, I was only looking for positions with a master's degree or above and practical work experience," said Mi Rui, a 2023 graduate of the Pharmacy Management program at Hanlin College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.

After failing the postgraduate entrance examination, she chose to intern at Nanjing Aosaikang Pharmaceutical with a trial and error mentality. She worked in an advanced production workshop to assist personnel in transporting drugs, packing drugs after automatic light inspection, and assisting in site cleaning. Due to her excellent performance, she was transferred to the quality assurance department. "I've never experienced it in a company before. After a few months, I found it quite interesting and the treatment was also good." Mi Rui smiled and said that she had successfully signed an employment agreement in early July.

Xiao Wang, majoring in Numerical Control Technology from Chongqing Vocational and Technical College of Industry and Trade, graduated in June and went to Suzhou Funa Intelligent Manufacturing College in Jiangsu to pay his own tuition to study mechanical design.

"I work in companies every winter and summer vacation, earning money while constantly accumulating work experience." He said that his college degree does not have strong competitiveness in employment, and the remuneration for physically demanding jobs such as material receiving workers is not high, and it is likely to be replaced by robots with the development of intelligence. So I plan to improve my skills and apply for an assistant engineer position, so that I have more choices in the future.

"We used to mainly cultivate skilled talents for enterprises, but in recent years, we have found that more and more young people are spending money to advance their studies. The courses they learn include electrical design, industrial control, industrial robotics, etc., which are the most scarce and best paid majors in cutting-edge fields for enterprises." said Wu Jiafu, Chairman of Funa Intelligent Manufacturing Institute.

Some universities are also optimizing their professional settings and talent development structure in response to market demand, and improving the quality of student employment.

Zhang Bo, Director of the Employment Guidance Service Center at Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology, introduced that in recent years, in response to national strategic needs and new trends in industrial development, the school has added "high-precision and cutting-edge" majors, reduced recruitment and suspension of majors with weak social demand, and continuously adjusted the layout of disciplines and majors. The implementation rate of employment for graduates this year is over 95%, mainly in the information technology industry, high-end equipment manufacturing industry, and research institutes.

To solve the problem of "difficult recruitment", some companies are constantly adjusting to increase their attractiveness by improving the employment environment and increasing the salary and benefits of skilled talents.

In the scorching summer of July, I couldn't see the staff sweating profusely at the Zhongshan base in Galanz. The enterprise has invested tens of millions of yuan in upgrading and renovating the temperature and humidity of the intelligent manufacturing workshop, greatly improving the working environment of frontline employees on nearly 70 production lines.

"People are the first capital of enterprises. It is necessary to improve employee benefits and enhance the sense of belonging of talents from all aspects. By respecting talents, relying on talents to enhance enterprise competitiveness, and increasing product added value, this is the fundamental way to stabilize employment in the manufacturing industry and the direction of high-quality development of enterprises." said Fan Xin, the person in charge of the training center of Galanz Group.