Employment of college graduates: the "two ends" are popular and the "middle" is cold
Experts suggest that more measures to stabilize employment should be formulated in a targeted manner to guide young groups such as college graduates to choose employment fields reasonably
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Shao Luwen
Graduation season in June is coming soon, and various recruitment activities are in full swing.
A survey by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters found that the number of college graduates this year has hit a record high, and the pressure on employment has also increased.
At the same time, with the outbreak of the epidemic in many places and the downward pressure on the economy, there are still multiple contradictions between employment demand and total employment, and the phenomenon of recruiting "two ends" and "middle" is becoming more and more prominent.
Employment anxiety on the rise for some graduates
According to data from the Ministry of Education, the number of college graduates in my country this year reached 10.76 million, an increase of 1.67 million year-on-year.
Wang Hui, director of the Department of College Students at the Ministry of Education, said at a press conference that due to the impact of the international epidemic, the number of overseas students returning to China for employment in the past two years has also continued to increase. Overall, the employment situation for college graduates is severe and complicated.
Combining the data of last year's autumn recruitment and the preliminary data of this year's spring recruitment, under the relatively severe employment situation, the basic employment market has basically remained stable.
In February this year, Lu Aihong, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said at a press conference that the current employment situation is generally stable and better than expected. In 2021, 12.69 million new jobs will be created in cities and towns across the country, exceeding the target of 11 million people. .
From ministries and commissions to local governments, new measures to stabilize employment have been introduced one after another, focusing on key points and implementing precise policies.
Ten departments including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security launched a plan to raise millions of jobs and trainee positions, and clarified support policies such as subsidy support, tax support, and incentives; the Ministry of Education deployed a special campaign for national college secretaries and principals to visit enterprises and promote employment to expand employment. channels and jobs.
Many places have made practical moves around reducing the burden and stabilizing jobs and entrepreneurship services.
Shandong provides social security subsidies for small and micro enterprises that recruit college graduates who have not been employed within 2 years of leaving school, sign labor contracts for more than 1 year and pay social insurance premiums for them, up to a maximum of 1 year.
However, with the increase of employment pressure, the anxiety of some employment groups also follows.
In particular, many college graduates are worried about the reduction of jobs and the increase in competition, causing anxiety.
A recruitment platform surveyed more than 10,000 graduates of the class of 2022 and found that graduates' employment anxiety is real and frequent.
20.09% of graduates expressed mild employment anxiety, and 11.35% of graduates reported moderate anxiety.
For the 2022 graduates, the main reasons for employment anxiety are "lack of relevant internship experience/work experience" and "lack of professional skills required by the position", accounting for 30.24% and 24.66% respectively.
The phenomenon of "two ends" popular and "middle" encountering cold is highlighted
The reporter's investigation found that in this year's recruitment season, there were some new contradictions, especially the contradiction between the supply and demand of talents, and the phenomenon that the "middle" of the "two ends" of the job market was cold.
For manufacturing companies, graduates from doctoral and technical colleges are still in high demand, while it is relatively difficult for undergraduates and even masters with the largest number of graduates to find jobs.
Last fall, FAW Jiefang Automobile Co., Ltd., located in Changchun, Jilin Province, recruited 2022 doctoral graduates, in addition to the promised annual salary of more than 350,000 yuan, there was a one-time settling fee of 500,000 yuan (after tax).
In China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, a person in charge of recruitment told reporters that a doctor can enjoy a settling fee of 500,000 yuan and an interest-free loan of 500,000 yuan, plus an annual income of not less than 300,000 yuan. Get a comprehensive subsidy of more than 1 million yuan.
In technical colleges, graduates are also in demand.
Rong Lanxiang, dean of Shandong Lanxiang Technician College, said that employers come to the school half a year in advance to "book" students, and the school can arrange for graduates to work in which company if they pay the students high wages.
A number of college graduates told reporters that their favorite positions generally set recruitment requirements for graduate students and above, and some positions that require operational skills themselves do not meet the requirements, resulting in "high performance and low performance" in employment.
Qiao Tianlun, a senior student majoring in computer science at a university in Hebei Province, said that large companies often recruit doctors in a targeted manner, and they skip the initial test and go directly to the interview stage.
But for undergraduates, they have to go through several rounds of "brutal" screening, and the chances of finding a good job are not high.
In addition, affected by the epidemic and the economic situation, the risk of large-scale unemployment in some industries has increased. Affected by this, graduates of related majors are facing greater difficulties in finding employment.
Under the impact of the epidemic, the tourism industry has been significantly affected.
The travel agency operator Gao Yang has been engaged in the tourism industry for more than ten years. Affected by the epidemic, the benefits have been poor in recent years.
"This year, the epidemic situation in various places is severe, many scenic spots have been closed, and inter-provincial tourism has also been affected. It is very difficult to operate, and travel agencies have had to lay off staff." Gao Yang said that the tourism industry has seen a wave of departures in the past two years.
For the tourism industry with 33 million employees, public health emergencies such as the epidemic will have a huge impact on the industry.
"With the decline of the economic prosperity, the employment of enterprises has been compressed, which has brought pressure to the job market." Yao Kai, director of the Global Science and Technology Talent Development Research Center of Fudan University, said that at present, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in some industries is facing great difficulties. Decreased willingness to re-employ.
How to do a good job of connecting supply and demand under the epidemic situation
Under the epidemic, students who want to find employment cannot go out and recruiting units cannot come in. The society suspends offline recruitment activities and conducts them online, which will have a certain impact on the effectiveness of recruitment.
For example, the employment big data of Shandong recruitment platform Qilu Talent Network shows that after the Spring Festival in 2022, the supply and demand situation of Shandong's job market will show a different trend from previous years.
In previous years, companies were actively recruiting and job seekers were in short supply.
This year, corporate demand has dropped and job seekers have become more active.
Lu Peng, a graduate of Beijing Forestry University majoring in forest products and chemical engineering, said that from the beginning of the autumn recruitment, he planned to find a job in advance, but some companies had fewer jobs, and the interviews, internships and other links were inconvenient. In short, although there are some job opportunities, but so far have not found a very ideal position.
Affected by the epidemic, the pressure on college students to start a business has increased.
"Returnee" Zhang Chi told reporters that due to the impact of the epidemic, he was forced to take online courses in China for a lot of time in the past two years. After graduation, he partnered with friends to start a business in the catering industry. However, under the current situation, investment institutions are not optimistic about the company's future development expectations. It is difficult to obtain investment, and the operation faces great financial pressure.
According to the "Ranking of 100 Occupations in the Fourth Quarter of 2021 with Recruitment Greater Than "Least Lack of Jobs" in China released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in February this year, there is still a large talent gap in the manufacturing industry.
Among the 34 occupations with increasing shortages, 16 occupations are directly related to the manufacturing industry, accounting for 47.1%, such as "rebar workers", "mechanical fitters" and "textile dyers".
The heads of a number of manufacturing and labor-intensive enterprises said that the difficulty of recruiting workers in factories continued to intensify. Due to the high workload and relatively simple content, more and more young people were reluctant to work in factories, and chose jobs with a high degree of freedom. Flexible employment forms.
For college students, there is also the phenomenon of "would rather deliver food than go to the factory".
"At present, most of the technicians are around 40 years old, but there is a certain gap in the number of technicians." Li Guanghao, the recruitment manager of Jinan Shengquan Group Co., Ltd., said that after students come to the company for an internship, the company often uses them as reserves. Strength continues to develop.
However, the proportion of intern students remaining is not large.
"Many college students are reluctant to enter factories after graduation, and are more willing to engage in Internet-related jobs such as live broadcasts and takeaways." Li Guanghao believes that remuneration, working environment, rest time, and decency are all factors that young people care about.
Improve safeguards to promote flexible employment
A number of relevant experts and business leaders believe that the current total employment pressure and structural contradictions still exist. While promoting economic recovery, more targeted measures to stabilize employment should be formulated.
In view of the current job market conditions, the interviewed experts suggested that further research and judgment and the establishment of an early warning mechanism should be further strengthened to open up more new jobs while stabilizing jobs.
Wang Zhongwu, a professor at the Department of Sociology of the School of Philosophy and Social Development of Shandong University, said that it is necessary to continue to expand the employment space and introduce more policies and measures that can encourage college students to find employment in small and medium-sized cities, grassroots units, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Cai Fang, chief expert of the National High-end Think Tank of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the development of the new economy has created new forms of employment and more flexible forms of employment.
At present, there is still the problem of social security mismatch for people with flexible employment. In particular, the social security coverage for flexible employment groups is not sufficient, and it is difficult to adapt to the requirements of new employment forms. It is necessary to further explore new social security models for flexible employment groups. financial burden of employment.
The interviewed experts also believe that in terms of promoting employment, the tentacles extend to the offline labor market group.
From the aspects of standardizing and guiding the construction of the gig market, strengthening public employment services for gig workers, and protecting the employment rights of gig workers, specific measures are put forward to promote the full employment of gig workers.
For example, build an "Internet + gig market" to provide gig workers and employers with services such as gig information release, supply and demand docking, and online labor fee payment.
A number of business leaders and grass-roots personnel and social departments also suggested strengthening incentives for workers in terms of personal development, welfare security, and social status, and guiding young groups such as college graduates to reasonably choose employment fields.
For example, to open up the ascending channel for skilled workers, vigorously promote the spirit of craftsmanship and enhance the social status of craftsmen in major countries, introduce systematic incentive policies for high-skilled talents, reform the talent evaluation system, and broaden the path for industrial workers to ascend.
By further improving the political treatment, economic treatment and social treatment of skilled workers, the "labor medal is tilted towards front-line craftsmen", and more young people are attracted to join technical positions.