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Graduates too snooty to get hands dirty
By Wu Guangqiang |
March 26, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
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FOR Chinese college grads, nothing is more inspiring than the success stories of talented young people.
According to a recent survey, of 4,551 respondents, 77 percent expressed interest in starting their own business, and 27 percent had plans to do so.
Some early birds have already gotten the worm and Xie Shuo, a 26-year-old third-year post graduate at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, is one of the best.
He started his business selling thermal underwear at a Taobao online shop, and recently a big company in Wuhan has bought his business for 12 million yuan (US$1.8 million).
Like many success stories, Xiao started from the scratch and went through all imaginable hardships and setbacks. He had worked in humble businesses, such as printing and book sales. As the saying goes, no pains, no gains.
Unfortunately, however, not many Chinese college grads are willing to take the plunge in their job hunting. Their attitudes hold them back.
First, a reluctance to leave big cities or hometowns. According to 2011 Guangdong White Paper on the Employment of the Graduates of Universities and Colleges, 81 percent of Guangdong college graduates were clustered in nine major provincial cities; only 4 percent chose to work elsewhere, though those working out of major cities or out of Guangdong are generally better paid.
Second, a preference for a few hot professions. Seeing social status and reputation as most important, they would rather sacrifice higher pay for a lower-paying white-collar job in a glittering office building.
Last, a crazy pursuit of officialdom. It has become an extraordinary scene in China that every year millions of young people are breaking their necks to grab a place in the ranks of civil servants.
Their conservative attitudes toward employment have greatly limited their choices. Worse, the law of supply and demand works to their disadvantage as there are so many graduates with similarly high expectations in one place.
Years of expanding university enrollment have resulted in an oversupply of college graduates in major cities, which in turn has dragged down their pay levels. Worst of all, in college education the emphasis of quantity over quality has resulted in large numbers of run-of-the-mill graduates. Many of them may have spent more time playing online games than hitting the books. They have few bargaining chips for a high pay.
As a result, contrary to the steady rise of the pay for manufacturing workers due to the labor shortage, pay levels for college graduates seem to have stagnated. The market doesn't listen to grumbles. It is college graduates who should stop jumping on the status-job bandwagon, swallow their pride, and start off with something humble.
(The author is a freelancer based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.)
According to a recent survey, of 4,551 respondents, 77 percent expressed interest in starting their own business, and 27 percent had plans to do so.
Some early birds have already gotten the worm and Xie Shuo, a 26-year-old third-year post graduate at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, is one of the best.
He started his business selling thermal underwear at a Taobao online shop, and recently a big company in Wuhan has bought his business for 12 million yuan (US$1.8 million).
Like many success stories, Xiao started from the scratch and went through all imaginable hardships and setbacks. He had worked in humble businesses, such as printing and book sales. As the saying goes, no pains, no gains.
Unfortunately, however, not many Chinese college grads are willing to take the plunge in their job hunting. Their attitudes hold them back.
First, a reluctance to leave big cities or hometowns. According to 2011 Guangdong White Paper on the Employment of the Graduates of Universities and Colleges, 81 percent of Guangdong college graduates were clustered in nine major provincial cities; only 4 percent chose to work elsewhere, though those working out of major cities or out of Guangdong are generally better paid.
Second, a preference for a few hot professions. Seeing social status and reputation as most important, they would rather sacrifice higher pay for a lower-paying white-collar job in a glittering office building.
Last, a crazy pursuit of officialdom. It has become an extraordinary scene in China that every year millions of young people are breaking their necks to grab a place in the ranks of civil servants.
Their conservative attitudes toward employment have greatly limited their choices. Worse, the law of supply and demand works to their disadvantage as there are so many graduates with similarly high expectations in one place.
Years of expanding university enrollment have resulted in an oversupply of college graduates in major cities, which in turn has dragged down their pay levels. Worst of all, in college education the emphasis of quantity over quality has resulted in large numbers of run-of-the-mill graduates. Many of them may have spent more time playing online games than hitting the books. They have few bargaining chips for a high pay.
As a result, contrary to the steady rise of the pay for manufacturing workers due to the labor shortage, pay levels for college graduates seem to have stagnated. The market doesn't listen to grumbles. It is college graduates who should stop jumping on the status-job bandwagon, swallow their pride, and start off with something humble.
(The author is a freelancer based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.)
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