With the increasingly serious problem of aging in China, there is a shortage of elderly care service talents. In the recently revised "Occupational Classification Dictionary of the People's Republic of China", new occupational types such as rehabilitation assistive technology consultants, elderly ability assessors, and health care professionals have been added. More and more young post-90s are beginning to give pensions to the elderly "post-90s" who are over 90 years old. However, a follow-up survey shows that college students with related majors in Beijing have lost from the pension industry, and the loss rate of front-line life care positions is about 70%, mainly transferred to other non-care positions in pension institutions, or simply left the pension industry.
According to data released by the National Health Commission, there are more than 1 million elderly people suffering from chronic diseases in China, and about 9 million disabled and partially disabled elderly people. This part of the elderly has an increasing demand for life care and medical care. In recent years, whether it is to improve the training of elderly care service talents or strengthen the guidance of relevant policies, the state's support for the elderly care service industry is significantly increasing, and some social forces have also seen the development opportunities of the elderly care service industry. In this context, more and more young people are joining the elderly care service industry. However, in reality, how the elderly care service industry can retain young people is still a practical problem that must be faced.
In fact, many places have taken "retention" actions. For example, Beijing has clarified in the "Implementation Measures for the Training of Beijing Elderly Service Personnel" (Draft for Comments) that for some graduates who enter Beijing elderly care institutions, a maximum reward of 6,<> yuan for bachelor degree or above, and a certain amount of monthly subsidies will be issued to front-line elderly care workers. In addition, there are some places that lower the threshold for elderly care workers to settle down. It should be said that these measures are quite targeted. But that's probably not enough.
First of all, the current society's understanding of the elderly care service industry urgently needs to be updated. For a long time, pension practitioners have always given people the impression of "one high and three low" - high age, low education, low quality, low treatment, social identity, and professional honor are relatively insufficient. This objectively limits the confidence of young people in the elderly care service industry for a long time. But in fact, as society has higher and higher requirements for the professionalism of elderly care services, this situation is changing. Elderly care services are not only "waiters", such as elderly companions, elderly ability assessors, rehabilitation assistance technology consultants and other new professions, are in increasing demand. In view of this, from social organizations to schools at all levels, it is advisable to give a more comprehensive and objective introduction to the contemporary elderly care service industry, minimize the misunderstanding caused by information asymmetry, and create a better social atmosphere for career development.
Secondly, the society should also focus on improving the professional treatment of the elderly care service industry. This includes both income expectations and personal promotion opportunities. From the survey, "low social status, low income, high labor intensity, bottlenecks in career development, etc." are the main reasons why it is difficult for the pension industry to retain young people. In this regard, it is necessary to re-evaluate the social value of the elderly care service industry, give more preferential support to elderly care institutions and related market entities at the level of public policy, and create conditions to leave more benefits to front-line service providers. In addition to increasing financial subsidies and establishing incentive systems, some places are also piloting the establishment of an "8-hour extra-<>-hour" income generation mechanism for nursing staff in nursing institutions, such as encouraging willing nursing staff to use work breaks to provide door-to-door services for the elderly at home, so as to achieve a "double improvement" in the quality of home-based care and the income of elderly caregivers. Such a mechanism innovation deserves attention.
On the other hand, it is also important to open up career promotion channels in the elderly care service industry and let more young people have positive career expectations. Popularize the skills training and rating of elderly care service talents, open up the "dual channel" of skill growth and academic qualifications, and let more outstanding professionals see the hope of career promotion, which will help eliminate young people's concerns about career prospects and build long-term confidence.
In short, with the deepening of social aging, the importance of the elderly care service industry has become more prominent, and the requirements for professionalism have also increased. The improvement of its professionalism will inevitably require more young people with professional ability to join. To a certain extent, whether it can attract and retain young people is one of the important signs of the healthy development of this industry. In this regard, it is also necessary to explore more ways to "retain people" in combination with reality.
Zhu Changjun Source: China Youth Daily