Enhancing the attractiveness of manufacturing careers
Solving the problem of "who will be a skilled worker" requires the joint efforts of the whole society and multiple measures.
Efforts should be made to enhance the occupational attractiveness of the manufacturing industry, further accelerate the pace of development of vocational education, and strengthen vocational skills training for on-the-job workers.
Having a large number of skilled workers is the foundation and prerequisite for my country to move from a "big manufacturing country" to a "powerful manufacturing country".
However, in the current labor market, skilled workers, especially high-end skilled workers, have been in short supply for a long time, and "who will be skilled workers" has become a question that must be answered.
After more than 40 years of reform and opening up, my country has become a major manufacturing country in the world.
Since 2010, the added value of my country's manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world for more than 10 consecutive years.
At present, my country is the only country in the world that has 39 major categories, 191 medium categories, and 525 small categories of all industrial categories, ranking first in the world among 221 large-scale industrial products.
Not only that, the quality of China's manufacturing industry is also rising rapidly, the high-tech industry is developing rapidly, and many high-tech products have strong competitiveness in the international market.
At the same time, the rapid development of manufacturing has also brought about a strong demand for skilled workers.
Data from relevant departments shows that the recruitment rate of skilled laborers in my country has remained above 2 for a long time.
This means that a mechanic has at least two positions that he can choose from.
What is puzzling is that even though the market demand for skilled workers is so strong, and some companies offer very attractive conditions for skilled workers, there is always a gap in the supply of skilled workers.
There are many reasons for this phenomenon.
On the one hand, it stems from the employment bias of some people against manufacturing.
Some people think that working in a factory, which is monotonous and tedious, and the income is not high, is better than being a courier rider.
On the other hand, due to the lack of recognition of the professional identity of skilled workers, some people always feel that being a skilled worker seems inferior.
The recognition of skilled workers is not high, and the development of vocational education in my country has also fallen into a vicious circle of "poor education". Although relevant departments are vigorously promoting related work, some parents and students have fallen into anxiety and entanglement.
Due to the deviation in understanding and the impact of technological progress, the number of employment in my country's manufacturing industry has been declining year by year, and the problems of "difficulty in recruiting" and "labor shortage" in the manufacturing industry have become increasingly prominent.
Solving the problem of "who will be a skilled worker" requires the joint efforts of the whole society and multiple measures.
First, efforts must be made to enhance the career attractiveness of manufacturing.
Continuously enhancing the occupational attractiveness of the manufacturing industry is a fundamental measure to improve the occupational prestige of skilled workers and eliminate occupational prejudice.
Manufacturing enterprises should make more efforts in improving the treatment of skilled workers, improving the working environment, balancing work and life, and expanding career development prospects.
In fact, with the help of technology, many factories today have fundamentally changed the working environment and greatly improved the working conditions of workers, which are no longer comparable to traditional factories.
Second, to further accelerate the pace of development of vocational education.
Expanding the scale of vocational education and improving the quality of vocational education is an important way to increase the supply of skilled workers.
We must adhere to the market-oriented road, close the school-enterprise relationship, and improve the "dual-teacher system".
Taking improving the quality of students as the top priority, adopting various methods to attract high-quality students to join the vocational education team.
At the same time, unblock the supply and demand information of the labor market, and strive to improve the accuracy of vocational education personnel training.
Finally, strengthen vocational skills training for on-the-job workers.
Encourage on-the-job employees to carry out training through methods such as “mentoring system” and “learning by doing”, and strive to improve their vocational skills.
Improve the training, use, evaluation, and incentive system for skilled personnel, increase financial subsidies for training, and stimulate the enthusiasm and initiative of on-the-job employees to participate in vocational skills training.
As long as a good social atmosphere that respects and takes pride in skilled workers is formed as soon as possible, the problem of "who will be skilled workers" is expected to be solved.
(The author is a professor at the National Institute of Opening-up, University of International Business and Economics)
Li Changan