What is the development space for skilled talents in China on the production line? We talked to several post-00s about evaluations, talents, and skills

In today's series of reports "China on the Production Line," we turn our attention to frontline workers on the production line. The transformation and upgrading of enterprises, as well as the iterative updating of production lines, undoubtedly play a very important role for frontline workers.

Look, skilled talents are really delicious

Not long ago, our reporter went to Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, where traditional heavy industry is the main focus, and met a group of young people full of vitality and dreams.

From these buses, there are middle school students and their parents from the districts and counties under the jurisdiction of Qiqihar. They took a long-distance bus specifically for several hours to come and listen to the enrollment lecture of the technical school.

At the press conference, teachers from technical colleges invited by the Qiqihar Federation of Trade Unions introduced the current learning content of technical colleges and what jobs they can engage in after graduation. Many students and parents feel quite interested after listening.

Yu Haozhou, a student from Jiujing Town, Qiqihar City: Before coming here, I felt that Qi'er Machine Tool Factory produces small parts. When I came here, I found out that it produces large parts, which is related to aerospace. I feel particularly honored.

After the lecture, the local government arranged for students and parents to enter the local workshop together and experience the modern production line up close.

Liang Hongyu, the leader of the Industrial Worker Team Construction Group in Baiquan County, Qiqihar City: Several batches and schools have come to us to learn and visit, and then let parents have an understanding and students have an understanding. Although my education is not very high, I have a certain skill.

In recent years, various regions have been trying their best to attract talents. In order to better retain talents, many local enterprises in Qiqihar have signed employment agreements with students before they enter school, implementing an "order based" training model.

Wang Baihui, HR Director of Heilongjiang Haohua Chemical Co., Ltd.: The spring class of 2023 has already enrolled 21 students, and the autumn class enrollment will soon begin. The plan is to train 90 students in the order class this year.

Zhang Jian, Deputy General Manager of Qizhong CNC Equipment Co., Ltd.: 15 talents have signed labor contracts. Whether they are technical workers or college graduates, our company has been increasing in the past two years.

To truly retain people, the key is to enable them to find suitable positions and continuously grow and improve. The Qiqihar City Federation of Trade Unions takes the lead in coordinating local departments such as human resources, social security, and education to establish an information database for urban and rural youth labor resources, an information database for enterprise employment needs, and an information database for training needs, accurately aligning the human resources needs of enterprises with the career growth demands of talents.

Ren Panorama, Vice Chairman of the Qiqihar Municipal Federation of Trade Unions: In the past three years, our city's vocational colleges have recruited more than 50000 students, of which 23900 students have served local enterprises. In recent years, we have completed 143 order classes and recruited nearly 5000 students. Now, the number of people working in enterprises has reached over 3000.

Let's go and check in at the technical college

Even before graduation, many technical school students can secure employment opportunities in advance, which provides a reassuring experience. However, whether they can perform well in the workplace ultimately depends on their acquired skills. Is the speed of updating and iterating enterprise production lines getting faster and faster? Is the knowledge and hands-on ability learned in technical schools sufficient? What is the life of technical school students like? Next, let's follow the reporter to the technical college to "check in".

In the interview, the reporter met many post-00s students. When talking about why they chose to attend a vocational college, the reason why they didn't get into high school or university was because their grades were not ideal. However, after they actually came, they gained something else. Wang Qi and Wang Tao, two brothers from Daqing, are both born in the 2000s. Wang Qi, the younger brother, is just 17 years old this year. Despite his young age, he has already mastered the operational skills of making semi precision parts.

Wang Qi, a student majoring in CNC technology at the Technical School of Qiqihar Second Machine Tool Factory: I feel quite proud, that is to say, at this age, I can find a job and work to support myself.

In the eyes of his older brother, his lazy and idle younger brother was about to become a skilled worker who could handle the job independently, which made Wang Tao feel a bit tempted by such a job.

Wang Tao, a student majoring in CNC technology at the Technical School of Qiqihar Second Machine Tool Factory: After learning CNC, he found that studying in university is not the only way. After coming in to observe, I found that it was different from what I had imagined, and it was not as dirty or tiring as I had imagined. It didn't feel so difficult.

In technical colleges, besides normal teaching, organizing students to participate in various types of skill competitions is also a crucial part. When the reporter arrived at the training workshop, the students were practicing and preparing to participate in the national vocational skills competition.

Wang Zhanping, a teacher at China First Heavy Technician School: Through the experience of competitions, a student's personal abilities have been greatly improved. After entering the enterprise, there is no need for retraining. After becoming familiar with the enterprise for a month, he can independently operate machine tools and take on production. Many enterprises also hope to recruit such students.

Digital technology is becoming increasingly popular on production lines. During interviews, reporters found that many technical colleges have established innovation studios, 3D printing, laser scanning, industrial vision and other increasingly professional knowledge are essential here. The reporter noticed on site that the machine tools and production molds used in the training workshop are basically the same as those used by the enterprise. In this way, students conducting practical operations in school is equivalent to conducting production in the workshop.

Wang Zhanping, a teacher at China Yizhong Technician School: By combining campus practice with enterprise practice, students can gain a good experience in solving practical problems.

The production line is being updated, and the courses in technical colleges are also constantly improving. New teachers and equipment allow students to have unlimited access to enterprise factories. In such a campus atmosphere, the reporter also felt the aspirations of these 17-year-old young people for the future. Taking advantage of his lunch break, Liang Jiayuan, a sophomore majoring in transportation, brought the reporter to their dormitory.

Xiao Tang from Henan was elected as the dormitory manager due to his good grades and slightly older age. He introduced to the reporter the characteristics of each person in the dormitory, who loves reading and who loves exercising. The reporter felt their longing for a better future career.

Rush to skill positions to achieve life dreams

China is currently the largest manufacturing country, and its future goal is to move from a manufacturing powerhouse to a manufacturing powerhouse. This cannot be achieved without a large number of skilled talents on the production line. What is the development space for skilled talents? Our reporter also interviewed one.

Temperature measurement, oxygen measurement, adding agents, and guarding molten steel with temperatures exceeding 3000 degrees Celsius are tasks that Zhang Hang faces every day. When the reporter first saw him, he was holding a slag sticking gun to observe the fluidity and oxygen content of steel slag.

Zhang Hang, a smelter at the steelmaking plant of China's First Heavy Casting and Forging Steel Division, mainly looks at the oxygen content in the steel, because it is necessary to minimize the oxygen content in the steel slag.

It is easy to say, but when it comes to operation, it faces many challenges.

Zhang Hang, a smelter at the steelmaking plant of China Yizhong Forging Steel Business Unit: When I first came here, I saw these sparks splattering everywhere, including the kind of sparks that burst out from the molten steel, but I was actually a bit scared.

With the encouragement and guidance of the workshop master, Zhang Hang gradually adapted to the current pace of work after several months of internship. Prior to this, he had studied for a college degree in Harbin and also worked in sales in Beijing and Tianjin.

In order to find the sense of achievement he was pursuing, Zhang Hang chose to end his "northern drift" and return to his hometown in Qiqihar.

Zhang Hang, a smelter at the steelmaking plant of China Yizhong Forging Steel Business Unit: When I saw my father come to the station to pick me up, I felt that my father's hair had turned white, and then I felt that he shouldn't be floating outside. He should be rooted at home. I think it's just watching my parents grow older and wanting to take on a responsibility for the family.

Not only do we need to adapt to the environment, but we also need to have sufficient professional knowledge. Zhang Hang told reporters that as the production capacity of steel materials in enterprises continues to increase, he needs to master more professional knowledge in order to distinguish the proportion of various formulations, which is a challenge for Zhang Hang.

Zhang Hang, a smelter at the steelmaking plant of China Yizhong Forging Steel Business Unit: The steel liquid we cast plays a role in national engineering. I think it is a meaningful thing to do, and it is this spirit that allows me to persist.

The upward channel for skilled talents is being opened up

The reporter learned from the interview that with the continuous increase in the number of highly skilled talents in China, how to continue to improve their skills and obtain higher academic qualifications has become the choice of many technical college students, and they have also encountered some problems. In this regard, the reporter also interviewed several experts to hear what they said.

Chen Yujie, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences, was interviewed by reporters starting with a video call between her and a company.

Chen Yujie, Deputy Researcher of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences: I would also like to learn about the current situation of school enterprise cooperation in our company today.

Xu Jie, the person in charge of school enterprise cooperation for a certain enterprise: We have conducted strategic cooperation with 125 vocational and undergraduate colleges, and can provide 2000 technicians annually. Technicians are actually skilled workers, not educational levels, and there is no requirement for academic qualifications.

For skilled talents, enterprises do not have many requirements for academic qualifications, but place more emphasis on skill levels. Chen Yujie also told reporters that the total number of skilled workers in China currently exceeds 200 million, of which over 60 million are highly skilled talents, accounting for 30% of skilled workers, an increase of about 5% compared to 2013. The human resources department has also extended the vocational skill level from the original "five levels" to "eight levels", forming a "new eight level" system consisting of apprentices, junior workers, intermediate workers, senior workers, technicians, senior technicians, special technicians, and chief technicians, breaking the ceiling of the growth of skilled talents.

Chen Yujie, Deputy Researcher of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences: We are promoting the "integration of engineering and learning" skill talent training model. We are dynamically adjusting the professional directory of technical colleges nationwide, adding majors related to big data, artificial intelligence, and new energy vehicles to the directory. At the same time, we are gradually increasing the cultivation of students' comprehensive qualities and general abilities.

According to the "14th Five Year Plan" for vocational education issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the article emphasizes the need to "promote the implementation of relevant policies for graduates to enjoy employment, entrepreneurship, and military service in accordance with regulations, and for graduates of intermediate, senior, and preparatory technician classes to implement professional title evaluation and public recruitment in public institutions according to their vocational, college, and undergraduate degrees, respectively.". At present, corresponding safeguard policies have also been introduced in various regions such as Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, and Henan.

Chen Yujie, Deputy Researcher of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences: The reform of the evaluation system for skilled talents has broken the boundary between vocational skill level evaluation and professional and technical talent title evaluation, and has gradually begun to implement the integration and development of skilled talents and professional and technical talents. The growth path of skilled talents can be said to have changed from a single track to a dual track development path.

In addition, according to the newly revised Vocational Education Law of the People's Republic of China last year, qualified technician colleges can be included in the sequence of higher vocational schools. That is to say, students who graduate from the technical college can also obtain corresponding educational qualifications.

Professor Hong Xianghua, Deputy Director of the Research Department of the Central Party School: Students from these high skilled colleges should be included in the database of the entire China Academic Degrees and Information Technology Network. At the same time, combined with reality, a set of academic degree certification systems and standards suitable for China's national conditions and contemporary characteristics should be formulated. In this way, I believe it will promote the high-quality development of education in technical schools.