It's June, the time of the year when the bulk of Chinese college graduates brace themselves to leave school and enter the world of full#-time employment. But with a record of two million#-plus university graduates this year, prospects of finding employment in China's SARS#-hit job market look grim, and competition is fierce. To alleviate the mounting employment pressure, various local authorities across the nation are coming up with moves to help the flow of talented personnel.
Authorities in Beijing, Jiangsu and Hunan have established online job fairs to offer graduating students timely information on job opportunities.
An employment website for graduates in the southern city of Nanjing is gaining increasing popularity since its opening. Its daily hits have tripled the original figure of 2,000 to almost 6,000. So far, more than 300 potential employers have issued information regarding over 2,000 job opportunities.
In northern China's Heilongjiang Province, the government has ruled specifically that no prospective employers may refuse students from SARS#-hit regions.
In Guangdong Province, a social security system has been established for the first time for unemployed college graduates. It will keep a record of those who are still without jobs at the time of graduation.
Efforts are also being stepped up in east China's Anhui Province. Authorities there have decided to allocate more civil service posts to graduate students this year.
(People's Daily June 17, 2003)
