Chinese migrant workers, who make up the bulk of the workforce on construction projects in cities across China, queue up as they get ready for work in Beijing. An estimated 20 million migrant workers have lost jobs because of the global economic downturn. IC

A worker focuses on her task at a textile company in Hai’an County, Jiangsu Province. IC

January 14, 2009: An unemployed worker checks for vacancies at a job fair in Hefei City, Anhui Province. by Liu Junxi/Xinhua

January 18, 2009: Crowds of university and college graduates seek employment at a job fair in Wuxi City, east China’s Jiangsu Province. IC0

That day, we just went to work as usual. We didn’t know our factory had shut down until we saw the notice on the gate. We were shocked. It’s unbelievable, such a big factory went bankrupt overnight!” A dismayed 44-year-old Xiang Yulian was referencing October 15, 2008, when two large toy companies under Dongguan Hejun Group of Guangdong Province formally declared bankruptcy. Xiang, a migrant worker from Daxian County, Sichuan Province, along with two family members, suddenly had no job. And they had plenty of company, with diminished employment prospects impacting a broad range of demographic sectors.

On the same day, Yang Chen, a soon-to-be postgraduate from China University of Political Science and Law, signed up to take the national civil service recruitment examination. Since she began her search for employment two months ago, Yang confronted a tepid job market.

Influenced by the global economic crisis, the growth of China’s economy has slowed and, concurrently, so has the demand for new workers. Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Office of Central Financial Work Leading Group and director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, revealed that 20 million, 15.3 percent, of China’s migrant workers lost their jobs as the global financial crisis took a toll on the economy. It is expected that 25 million migrant workers will encounter difficulty in finding jobs in 2009. China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security Department estimated that 6.1 million new college graduates will enter the job market this year. Added to those two demographic groups are laid-off workers in the city, and the unemployed seeking jobs.

A more vigorous employment policy should be adopted to promote job opportunity and maintain stable employment, according to the central government as stated during the Central Economic Work Conference with regard to China’s economic focus in 2009.

Migrant Workers

The first central government document of this year proposed that more migrant workers should be employed in infrastructure construction programs and new public welfare projects, so as to keep them off the public dole. Additionally, special programs will be created to beef up vocational training for migrant workers.

Many jobless migrant workers have returned to their hometowns. Local governments at all levels are devoting considerable resources to helping these people find new jobs. In those provinces which export a large number of migrant workers, such as Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui, various measures have been put in place to accelerate local economic development, with employment departments, labor unions and agricultural sections working to create more job opportunities. Redundant labor is being directed to those places where manpower is needed, and migrant workers are being encouraged to seek out jobs on their own, or set up their own businesses. According to a survey conducted by Hubei Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, two-thirds of migrant workers returning home have found new jobs.

A source of many migrant workers, Guang’an County, Sichuan Province, provides free training to update the skills of migrant workers and improve their competitive strength. More than 1,100 migrant workers have received vocational training. “Training can promote the competitive strength of a labor force and largely remedy the present mismatching between vocation requirements and existing labor force skills,” said Yang Weiguo, deputy director of Employment Research Institute of Renmin University of China.

Since 2008, Henan Province has adopted a series of preferential policies for migrant workers returning home. Governments at all levels encourage the returnees to establish their own businesses, while providing help in terms of money, land and technology. The provincial government has called for municipal governments to allocate special funds, subsidies and microfinance to migrant workers starting a business.

It is projected that China will invest 600 billion yuan in railway infrastructure construction, providing 6 million jobs in 2009. This year the central government will also gradually invest 900 billion yuan in the construction of low-rent and affordable housing, while also reconstructing shanty settlements. The move is expected to produce 2 million new jobs each year.

College Graduates

Employment prospects for new college graduates are relatively more limited, overall. Since the expansion of college enrollment in 1999, the wave of graduates pouring out each year substantially strains the job market. This year, degraded by the global economic slump, the situation is worse. Not surprisingly, civil service jobs are in high demand, with growing numbers of graduates deciding the government sector is the best course for their career. The number of candidates taking national civil service exams soared from 800,000 in 2008 to 1.05 million this year. Most examinees are college graduates.

Graduates Employment Report in China 2008, a survey conducted by MyCOS HR Digital Information Co., Ltd., revealed that 40 percent of 400,000 graduates surveyed were recruited by domestic private enterprises, equal to the total employed by state-owned enterprises and foreign companies. Only about half of these 400,000 graduates entered medium or small firms. But in the West, employees working in small and midsized companies account for 65 to 80 percent of the total employed. “Facing this slim job market, graduates should adjust their outlook on employment. Seeking out small and medium companies, starting their own businesses, going to rural areas … all can provide an alternative,” suggests Professor Yuan Xin, director with the Mental Health Center of Nankai University of China.

Yin Chengji, spokesperson of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, explains that the Ministry has embarked a program to organize 34,000 graduates for work in rural areas, where they assume basic service and management posts. Graduates are encouraged to work in small, medium and private companies, and those companies which recruit graduates can enjoy preferential policies. Those graduates who set up their own business can obtain a favorable loan, a place of business and a policy guarantee.

The 2009 Blue Book on China’s Economic Situation, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, set forth the premise that college graduates should not wait for society to provide them with jobs, but create more job opportunities by opening their own businesses. China’s Human Resource Development No.5 Report, published in 2008, revealed that less than 1 percent of Chinese graduates launched their own businesses. In some developed countries, that rate is about 20 to 30 percent.