Not long ago, Chinese grads were prodded to become innovative risk-taking entrepreneurs. But now the private sector is seen as risky business, and many job-hunters are responding to government incentives to apply for jobs as, of all things, civil servants. Manuela Zoninsein reports:
Some 7.1 million Chinese college grads are seeking jobs this year – including one million who graduated last year and are still looking for work. According to Zhang Libing, director of labor research at the Institute of Labor Science at the Human Resources and Social Security Ministry, “the employment rate for college graduates this year will likely be 60 to 70 percent lower than past years…There might be two to three million jobless college graduates in 2009.”
Gloomy employment prospects are prodding many to simply chase jobs – any jobs — including ones they hadn’t considered before. “Compared to last year, the year before that, and even the year before that ….the prediction for us…is that there are fewer jobs,” says Qu Xiaobin, a student set to graduate in July from the prestigious School of Economic Management (SEM), a joint program between Tsinghua University and MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Qu entered the MBA program in preparation for becoming an entrepreneur. “That was my original plan, but now I’ve changed my mind. Anything that will give me an opportunity to work, I’ll take it.”
For many, this means turning to the government. “My classmates want to join the public sector,” admitted Yu Shui, an human resources manager for the Beijing-based China Zhongfa Group, who takes night courses at SEM. “People are more interested now in working for government: it’s safer than the private sector.”
China’s economy, once growing annually at double-digit rates, is struggling to hit 8 percent this year. Market contractions have left over 20 million people out of work, and Pieter Bottelier, a Johns Hopkins economist and China scholar with extensive World Bank experience, worries that number could rise to 50 million by the end of 2009.
The government — which until recently encouraged grads to embrace creativity and risk by becoming entrepreneurs – is still trying to boost innovation by accelerating the establishment of industrial parks and incubation bases for startups with lower costs. However, Yu, who once wanted to start his own company, says the zeitgeist has changed: “People no longer want to be entrepreneurs or investors, or to go into business. It’s not a good choice to do your own business anymore. If you have the chance to work for government, it’s a great choice.”
College grads, along with migrant workers, are the two groups hardest hit by the global financial crisis and slowing job demand. So they’re receiving priority assistance in finding jobs. Premier Wen Jiabao promised to “do everything in our power to stimulate employment.” Government initiatives include offering social security benefits and subsidies for college graduates who take jobs in public administration and public services at the community level. Graduates who either take jobs in villages or enlist in the army will receive tuition reimbursement and have their student loans forgiven.
Many have taken up the government’s invitation to compete for public sector positions, signing up and preparing to take the cutthroat Civil Service Examination. A record 775,000 candidates registered for the civil service examination in China in 2008—130,000 more than the year before. That same year, a total of 90,000 civil servants were recruited, 86 percent of whom were graduates. By contrast, in 1992 just 30 percent of new recruits were graduates, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
But there still aren’t enough jobs, even in government, to absorb all the grads. Last year, only 13,500 positions were open, a grim situation that motivates test-takers to cut corners: 1000 cheaters were caught, the highest number ever. (Some even resorted to inserting micro-receivers in their ears to receive remote coaching while sitting the tests.) And with another couple million graduates joining the labor pool every year, the competition is certain to get tougher.
New recruitment, employment and dismissal policies moreover were announced by the government in early March. Such measures are meant to phase out the cushy “iron rice bowl” system guaranteeing lifelong employment in the civil service. “The new appointment system is designed to transform the civil service into an incentive-oriented, performance-driven career option,” Deputy Minister Yang Shiqiu said. “Incentives and punishments will be introduced to improve the performance of civil servants.”
Most people long considered work in the civil service an easy and reliably secure career option, especially when compared to life in the private sector. Getting in has always been tough. But now, staying in is no longer guaranteed, and authorities say the ‘iron rice bowl’ system identified with China’s Maoist era has been smashed for good.
