Economic Daily: Give full play to the role of private enterprises as employment reservoirs, attract the main force of employment, and significantly increase professional growth in the new economic field | Enterprise | Economic Daily
This year, the number of college graduates in China has reached a new historical high, reaching 11.58 million, and young people such as college graduates are facing significant employment pressure. At the same time, private enterprises located at the other end of the job market are also facing economic downturn pressure and uncertain factors. In this situation, how can we more effectively leverage the employment "reservoir" role of private enterprises to help college graduates find high-quality and full employment? The reporter interviewed experts, scholars, and relevant leaders of private enterprises.
Absorb the main force of employment
Private enterprises have always been the main force in absorbing employment, contributing over 80% of urban labor employment. In the first five months of this year, China established 3.764 million new private enterprises, providing direct and strong support for consolidating existing employment and absorbing new employment.
Why does recruiting college graduates bring new vitality to private enterprises. Liu Pengnong, the recruitment manager of Meituan Campus, believes that on the one hand, the rapid growth and great potential of campus recruitment, and the addition of fresh blood is conducive to the construction of the talent pool of enterprises; On the other hand, young people have a good understanding of the latest technologies and market trends, which can bring new ideas to the development of enterprises.
"College graduates have strong plasticity, and companies recruiting college students are reserving talents for future development. New business expansion, transformation and upgrading all require talent resources," said Yi Lili, associate professor of the Public Management Teaching and Research Department of the Central Party School.
In recent years, Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliances Co., Ltd. has employed an average of over 3000 college students annually. "The hope for development lies in innovation, and the hope for innovation lies in talent." The relevant person in charge of the company's human resources department said that recruiting college graduates is conducive to stimulating the vitality and driving force of the enterprise. "We will increase our efforts to build talent houses and 'build nests to attract phoenixes', providing continuous human support for Gree's sustainable development.".
During interviews, multiple companies reported that many college graduates lack practical skills due to their initial entry into the workplace. Liu Pengnong stated that based on recruitment experience, students can accumulate 3 to 6 months of practical experience before starting work, which is not only beneficial for better understanding of course knowledge, but also for deepening their understanding of the market.
Yi Lili believes that there is a disconnect between learning and employment among college graduates at present. The setting of majors should be more in line with the needs of industries and markets, and the training of college students should be more in line with the needs of enterprises, so as to make higher education more in line with the needs of economic and social development. "We should deepen the integration of industry and education, school enterprise cooperation, and actively adopt models such as order based training and targeted training to help students obtain more internship and practical opportunities, so that graduates can demonstrate higher maturity after entering the workforce."
Many private enterprises have started to take action and prioritize the recruitment process: Meituan has collaborated with multiple universities on over 150 scientific research projects, and courses such as "The Application and Practice of Big Data Technology" jointly created with the Department of Electronics at Tsinghua University have attracted nearly 400 students from more than 30 departments to participate in course selection; Gree and universities are exploring more opportunities for cooperation in talent cultivation and attraction, such as jointly building a school enterprise joint laboratory, creating an integrated practical platform and innovation base for university production, learning and research, and organically integrating talent cultivation and employment promotion for college students
In addition to creating a large number of job opportunities, private enterprises also provide many job seeking services, such as coordinating with universities to hold competitions and promote employment activities, helping graduates accumulate experience through live streaming, simulated interviews, and dialogue with industry experts. In terms of training, some companies such as Meituan have designed long-term and systematic training mechanisms for school enrollment, and are equipped with dedicated career mentors to provide specialized promotion channels. "College graduates have great potential for development and strong learning abilities. After systematic training, they can grow at a fast pace and take on their own responsibilities," said Liu Pengnong.
Significant incremental growth in the new economic field
For a period of time, due to economic downturn pressure and various uncertain factors, the recruitment demand of enterprises has declined. According to Yi Lili's analysis, private enterprises are more sensitive to the market and react faster. When facing operational difficulties or capturing risks, they will control labor costs in the first place and reduce the recruitment of college graduates.
At the other end of the job market, some graduates have not made private enterprises their first choice for employment. Private enterprises have relatively weak risk resistance capabilities, and in recent years, the employment prosperity index has fluctuated significantly. "When the economic situation is unstable, job seeking tends to stabilize, and private enterprises are less attractive," said Yi Lili.
In order to stimulate the recruitment enthusiasm of private enterprises, relevant departments have implemented policies frequently in recent years. For example, when enterprises recruit college graduates for employment, they can enjoy one-time employment subsidies, vocational training subsidies, social insurance subsidies, employment internship subsidies, and other benefits. Many local governments organize local private enterprises to concentrate on recruiting in cities where universities from other regions gather, attracting college graduates to help promote local industrial upgrading and economic development. Recently, the All China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Education have jointly launched the "Private Enterprises and Universities Collaborate to Promote Employment Action" to help enterprises and college graduates make mutual choices.
"The relevant policy measures are conducive to stimulating vitality, expanding employment capacity, and expanding the channels for private enterprises to recruit college graduates." The relevant person in charge of the Human Resources Department of Gree Electric Appliances was impressed by the measures to optimize recruitment services. "For example, establishing a mechanism for collecting employment positions for college graduates, widely collecting and dynamically releasing job demand plans of enterprises, allowing students to accurately connect supply and demand with enterprises, making it convenient for enterprises to find suitable candidates, and also facilitating the learning of biological color desired positions.".
In recent years, the "four new economies" have developed rapidly. As of the end of May this year, the number of private enterprises in China's "four new economies" has exceeded 25 million. The demand for talents in the new economic field is outstanding, with great vitality and potential, attracting a large number of college graduates with significant growth.
Specialized and innovative enterprises have emerged with a strong demand for skilled talents, providing a broad development space for graduates of related majors. Ren Xinglei, Executive Chairman of the China Association of Small and Medium sized Commercial Enterprises, stated that supporting policies should be introduced as soon as possible to encourage professional and technical talents in specialized, refined, and innovative enterprises to apply for professional titles, and stimulate the vitality of enterprise innovation and development. The tax reduction policy to promote the employment of small and medium-sized enterprises in China should take into account technology intensive industries.
According to the Digital China Development Report, the scale of China's digital economy will reach 50.2 trillion yuan in 2022, and 97 digital occupations will be marked for the first time in the net increase of 158 new occupations in the Occupational Classification Code of the People's Republic of China Occupational Classification Dictionary issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. It can be seen that new technologies, industries, formats, and models are continuously stimulating China's economic development momentum, creating a large number of high-quality employment opportunities for college graduates. "In the spring recruitment of the first half of this year, we distributed over 7000 job offers to college graduates, and actually recruited about 4000 students, covering multiple categories such as technology, business analysis, operations, finance, and sales." Liu Pengnong said.
Exploring the potential of small and medium-sized enterprises
"China's 170 million business entities contribute over 85% of employment opportunities, and small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for more than 90% of the business entities, have a significant proportion in solving employment problems," said Ren Xinglei.
On the one hand, it is difficult to meet the employment needs of graduates, and on the other hand, there is a labor gap in small and medium-sized enterprises. The Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Employment and Entrepreneurship Work of 2023 National Ordinary College Graduates issued by the Ministry of Education clearly proposes to fully leverage the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in attracting employment and build a platform for small and medium-sized enterprises to recruit college graduates. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Education jointly held the 2023 National Online Recruitment of College Graduates for Small and Medium sized Enterprises. From the actual situation, there is still a gap between the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to absorb college graduates for employment and the employment needs and job directions of graduates.
Experts suggest that more preferential policies should be introduced to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to attract college graduates for employment. For example, introducing more professional human resources institutions to serve small and medium-sized enterprises, building more platforms and channels for recruitment of small and medium-sized enterprises, and expanding recruitment influence; Give full play to the employment oriented function of tax reduction policies; Guide small and medium-sized enterprises to standardize their operations and employment, establish a good corporate image, and enhance their attractiveness to labor.
"Investing in the development of human capital can increase value, and making reasonable investments is expected to yield greater benefits." Yi Lili believes that for the enterprise side, it is necessary to focus on the long-term, establish modern human resource management concepts, establish and improve talent incentive and management mechanisms, and create an ecological environment for talent to work and start businesses. As far as universities are concerned, in specific actions to promote employment, on the one hand, positive employment concepts should be advocated to help graduates broaden employment channels, and on the other hand, conditions should be created to invite private enterprises to come to campus for recruitment, bridging the "last mile" of job seeking and recruitment.
It is worth noting that a stable economic foundation is the "foundation" for the employment of college graduates. Experts say that while encouraging college graduates to work in private enterprises, relevant departments should fundamentally create a favorable environment for the development of private enterprises, and make more efforts to help solve prominent difficulties, expand market space, and improve the external environment. "The orderly recovery of the economy will enhance the driving force for employment, and the overall employment situation will improve," said Yi Lili.
