Private domestic companies became the biggest employers of
Chinese graduates in 2007, according to the latest survey released
in Beijing on Monday.
About 34.2 percent of graduates in 2007 got jobs at private
companies, up 17.9 percent over that of 2005's figures, said the
survey from Peking University.
More than 3.3 million students graduated from Chinese colleges
in 2005. The number rocketed to 4.95 million in 2007, according to
statistics from the Ministry of Education.
Some 23.5 percent went to state-owned enterprises while 9.5
percent were hired by Sino-foreign joint ventures and foreign
companies, both figures higher than 2005.
The number of employment posts that enterprises offered has
grown faster, driven by the booming economy, than other sectors
such as schools and government departments.
But more graduates entered government departments as well. About
12.7 percent of graduates entered government departments, up 3.5
percent from 2005, according to the survey.
This was partly because the administrations were trying to
recruit more young talents with higher education. And government
jobs also provided the graduates stable income, high social status
and good welfare insurance.
In 2007, as many as 42 candidates competed for one post as a
civil servant.
On the other hand, the number of college graduates working for
schools dropped by 13.9 percent, said the survey.
According to the survey, schools offered lower pay than
average.
The monthly salary of 2007 graduates averaged 1,798 yuan
(US$246) but primary and middle schools only offered 1,448 yuan a
month.
Universities gave better pay, 2,231 yuan a month, but they
mostly took in those with master's or doctor's degrees. According
to the survey, these graduates earned 3,252 to 3,469 yuan a month
in average.
The survey also found that each graduate spent about 1,132 yuan
in job seeking, which might go on an expensive suit or well printed
introductions. Some female graduates even had cosmetic surgery.
But the survey result did not link the expense to successful
interviews. Those getting jobs spent less than those who did not
succeed, said Yue Changjun, associate professor of Peking
University who led the survey.
"Excessive spending on job seeking is not bound to increase the
chances of getting a job," he said.
The university has done the survey every two years since 2003.
In 2007, they sent questionnaires to graduates in 28 universities
in 15 provinces and received 16,388 responses.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2008)