Time to remove job market problems
I WAS a bit surprised to learn that 5,000 Beijing college grads recently applied for jobs as masseurs. Two hundred of those new entrants into China's competitive job market said they would be willing to give back rubs in bath houses, according to a China Daily article.Those 200 degree holders are among the 4.95 million who joined the would-be employed market this year, almost 1 million more than the 2006 figure.
It appears, according to recent articles, that demand for high-paying white collar jobs far outstrips supply. So gone are the days when a master's degree holder could (and would) turn up his nose at even a bank teller's position.
Believe me, I can understand the need to find a paying job, and I see the logic in accepting a job that pays badly ? or has little prestige ? as opposed to having no job at all. However, I think there is an inherent danger in these recent developments in China.
With some master's degree holders working as bank tellers and those with bachelor's degrees working as masseurs, what jobs will be left for the less qualified?
Another inherent danger, along with the wasting of qualified personnel resources through underemployment, is the psychological effect this can have on workers.
A worker who feels his skills are not being used and whose job offers no challenge may soon become dissatisfied because of lack of stimulation.
I am hoping that China's proposed law on employment promotion, slated for enactment this year, will help alleviate problems in the job market before it is too late.
The draft of the law puts the responsibility on government to set up early warning systems to monitor large-scale unemployment.
I hope that somehow there is a plan to address this dangerous underemployment trend.
One way would be to begin with career guidance courses and internships at the high school level. This would, I think, open students' eyes to the wealth of possible career choices.
Who knows, after some experience in the working world, some may actually choose to be masseurs ? not just because they can't find another job but because they actually want to give back rubs in bath houses. When？Which year
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