The labor authority in Shenzhen expects 87,000 jobs to be created in seven sectors by the end of the year.

The forecast was disclosed Wednesday after the Shenzhen Municipal Labor Bureau adjusted the minimum shares of local residents in the total employees of the firms in the seven sectors, including telecom, catering, trade and retail.

The bureau requires that 60 percent of the employees at telecom companies must be local permanent residents. Previously, it set the share at 40 percent.

For banks and other financial institutions, the new minimum share is 80 percent. However, the bureau lowered the shares for other sectors.

Companies that failed to employ enough local residents would be fined, the bureau said.

This was part of a package of measures unveiled by Shenzhen authorities Wednesday. By the end of June, more than 20,000 people had been registered as jobless, with the urban unemployment rate reaching an all-time high of 2.51 percent.

To curb rising unemployment, the city will spend 70 million yuan (US$8.46 million) on job creation each year. The planned spending will cover the next three years and total 210 million yuan (US$25.38 million).

To stimulate job creation, employment intermediaries will be paid an award of 300 yuan for a job matching that enables a jobless Shenzhen permanent resident to work for at least three months.

The employer who hires the jobless resident will also be entitled to a subsidy if the employment contract is for at least one year.

The government said it would pay a subsidy of up to 2,000 yuan to an unemployed resident for a job skills training session. Each will be entitled to two training sessions a year.

The government will also assign jobs to residents who are both unemployed and cash-strapped. They will receive a minimum monthly salary of 920 yuan instead of unemployment relief.

(Shenzhen Daily Auguse 29, 2003)