Backing Employment amid Epidemic

“ Zhang Enze, a graduating student from the Wuhan-based China University of Geosciences (CUG), experienced great relief when he secured three job offers in early March thanks to an online job fair.

- HU YUE

“I didn’t expect to get three offers at one fair as we graduating students now face huge pressure in job hunting due to the COVID-19 epidemic,” said Zhang, who majors in applied chemistry.

Zhang was lucky among 8.74 million Chinese college graduates joining the workforce this summer.

The figure increased 400,000 from that of last year, according to China’s Ministry of Education (MOE), meaning the competition for the job grew fiercer this year. What made the situation even grimmer was the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic that hit fresh graduates and migrant workers the most.

Employment is of vital importance to people’s livelihood and the economy. On May 22, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, while presenting the annual work report of the government at the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress, pledged that China will create more than nine million new urban jobs this year and boost support for employment with fiscal, monetary, and investment policies. “We will strive to keep existing jobs secure, work actively to create new ones, and help unemployed people find work,” Li said.

Policy Support

The season for finding a job during the first half of 2020 has been complex and grim: on the one hand, the number of fresh graduates hit a record high, while on the other hand, enterprises curtailed recruitment plans as a result of the epidemic.

On May 12, at a regular press conference held by the MOE, Wang Hui, director of the Department of College Students of the ministry, said that the Chinese government would help graduates find jobs by introducing policies, such as expanding enrollment for graduate programs, improving employment services, strengthening guidance on job hunting, and encouraging enterprises and public institutions to hire more new employees.