In recent years, the rate of Beijing college graduates staying in Beijing has continued to decline.
A few days ago, the topic of "Why college graduates don't love'North Drift'" has aroused hot discussion on the Internet.
More discussion and constant focus——
Stay or leave?
Dreams are not "multiple choice questions"
Editor's note
At the beginning of the new year in 2021, young people graduating this year are about to swarm into job hunting.
For the post-95s and post-00s, are "North Drifts" and "Shanghai Drifts" still the necessary passage to realize their dreams?
What changes have taken place in contemporary youth's outlook on residence and career choices?
How to let the talents who "sink" in second- and third-tier cities release more vitality?
We take you closer to graduated youths and related groups to "find it out", and ask experts to analyze the changes of the times and the evolution of mentality behind this phenomenon.
Guests of this issue
Zhao Zhong, researcher of the National Institute of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China, Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor
Li Changan, Professor, National Institute of Opening-up, University of International Business and Economics
1. Taking care of career and life: Youth's outlook on career choice has quietly changed
Reporter: Recently, some reports on the employment quality of college graduates have been released, arousing the attention of netizens.
The "Annual Report on the Employment Quality of College Graduates in Beijing in 2019" shows that the proportion of fresh graduates employed in Beijing has shown a slight downward trend in the past three years.
Why is there such a change?
Where have all the young people who are no longer "floating north" go?
Li Chang'an: In recent years, the proportion of fresh graduates in Beijing has continued to decline for various reasons.
According to the "push-pull theory" of population migration, the driving force of population migration is composed of the "push force" of the emigration place and the "pull force" of the emigration place.
"Thrust" means repulsive force, and "pull" means attractive force.
On the one hand, with the increasing cost of living and living in first-tier cities represented by Beijing, the "push" for university graduates is also increasing.
The pressure of work, buying a house, and commuting has almost become the common feeling of young and middle-aged people in big cities. Hot words such as "996" and "beating workers" circulating on the Internet reflect their working and living conditions to a certain extent.
On the other hand, the "talent war" between cities has been staged year after year, and many second- and third-tier cities have successively introduced preferential and encouraging policies, which are increasingly "pull" for college students.
The idea of "not going to North, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen" has quietly changed in the hearts of many young people.
At the same time, the pace of economic restructuring in first-tier cities is accelerating. In the past, the large and comprehensive industrial structure has changed. The number of labor-intensive enterprises has decreased, and technology-intensive and capital-intensive enterprises have continued to increase. The demand for labor has also shifted from focusing on quantity to focusing on labor. Quality changes.
Looking at the group of college students, their outlook on career choice is different from the past. The comfortable living environment and relaxed working pace in some second- and third-tier cities are important factors that attract college students.
Zhao Zhong: The employment rate of recent graduates in Beijing has been declining year by year, which is the result of the continuous improvement of labor marketization and the gradual emergence of employment diversification.
Since the reform and opening up, the employment of college students has gradually shown a diversified trend. The early stage is mainly reflected in the diversification of employment units. It has experienced a transformation from mainly concentrated in the government and public institutions to state-owned enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises, and private enterprises becoming important employers.
"Why college graduates don't like'beijing drifting'?" The rise of the discussion raised another important aspect of employment diversification, that is, the diversification of employment areas.
In recent years, Beijing’s core function positioning has changed. It has been clearly defined as a national political center, cultural center, international exchange center, and technological innovation center. It no longer includes the strategic positioning of “economic center”. Promote some graduates to leave Beijing for employment; Beijing's residential and living costs have been rising year after year, making graduates feel that it is not easy to stay; at the same time, other cities and regions have created more platforms to meet their career development needs, giving them more choices opportunity.
According to the survey data, a large part of Beijing college graduates choose to work in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and second and third-tier cities, which can not only meet the needs of career development, but also better take into account the quality of life.
2. The sea is wide and the fish leap: talents "sink" and opportunities rise
Reporter: In the long run, more and more graduates choose second- and third-tier cities or even lower-level areas for employment. What impact will it bring?
Zhao Zhong: At present, the differences in industrial structure, economic development methods, and comparative advantages of different cities and regions in my country are gradually becoming obvious, and the demand for skills of workers is also gradually diversifying, which broadens the choice of graduate employment.
The rapid development of the central and western regions and second- and third-tier cities, and the substantial advancement of public services such as education and medical care throughout the country have also created better conditions for graduates to work and live in non-mega cities.
The choice of employment location for graduates is essentially a process of optimizing the allocation of labor elements in space.
If more graduates choose to work in second-tier, third-tier or grassroots regions, it will help optimize the distribution of talents across the country, increase the rate of return on human capital investment and the rate of contribution to social and economic development, promote local economic development and transformation, and promote my country There will be more balanced development between regions and between large, medium and small cities, which will nurture greater vitality.
Li Changan: For a long time in the past, college students' employment in first-tier cities was one of the signs of "success".
However, a large number of college students gather in first-tier cities, which is likely to cause "crowding" in the labor market. On the one hand, it reduces the opportunities for talents to get ideal jobs in first-tier cities, and on the other hand reduces the quality of employment of college students.
Nowadays, a large number of college graduates have a long-term view when choosing employment.
With their "sinking", the talent structure of many second- and third-tier cities and grassroots units has been improved, and work efficiency has increased, which is of great significance to the higher-quality development of my country's economy.
For individual graduates, this choice can highlight the value of personal knowledge and gain greater career development space.
3. It is necessary to "build a nest to attract the phoenix", but also "fix the nest to raise the phoenix"
Reporter: In recent years, many cities have introduced preferential policies to attract talents, so that talents can see a blue ocean full of hope; of course, we must also see some people who have left the "Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou" and return to their hometowns due to frequent setbacks.
In your opinion, what "intestinal obstruction" still exists if the "sinking" talents are to be retained and developed well, and how to eliminate the accumulated defects?
Li Changan: At present, the talent preferential policies introduced by various places cover almost all aspects, from settlement to salary and job title, from housing to pensions.
These policies are attractive to university graduates to work locally.
But in fact, these alone are not enough.
The most fundamental thing is to vigorously develop the local economy and improve the development environment. This is the "trump card" for retaining talents.
At the same time, we must also see that the employment desire of college students has changed from the pursuit of remuneration and hukou in the past to a higher concern for the realization of self-worth.
Therefore, when attracting talents from various places, we should not only stop at the level of remuneration and settlement, but also strive to create an environment suitable for talents to play their roles and grow. It is necessary to "build a nest to attract the phoenix" and "fix the nest to raise the phoenix."
Zhao Zhong: There are prominent problems in the talent policy and development environment in many cities: the government is in a dominant position, and the market has not become a decisive factor in the rational flow and allocation of talent; the lack of employment subjects is serious, leading to the phenomenon that government actions replace market mechanisms. Occurred; poor communication between employers and the government, the government’s macro policies and the micro-demand of enterprises cannot be completely matched; the serious convergence of local talent policies, and the lack of cohesion with local natural endowments and development levels, weakening the role of policies to guide the situation.
To solve the above problems, one is to clarify the boundary between the government and the market.
For the government, it is very important to create a good institutional environment and business environment.
The second is to build a service-oriented government, do a good job of serving talents and enterprises, and become a link connecting talents and enterprises.
Attracting talents is to promote economic and social development. Only with good economic and social development can talents be better attracted and a virtuous circle can be formed.
The third is to help talents truly live and work in peace and contentment.
Anju should work hard on education, medical services, etc.; Joye should create a fair career development environment for talents through system design, and cultivate talents with an active economy.
(Project team: our reporters Li Xiao, Geng Jiankuo, Wang Simin)