China jobs slump makes graduates swap dreams for civil service

• Source: The Global Times
• [19:46 May 17 2009]
• Comments

By Michael Tighe

Sun Yizhen considered her university degree in international trade the ticket to a prestigious career with a State-owned enterprise like Bank of China Ltd. in Beijing. Instead, she found herself huddled against a freezing wind in a middle school parking lot in Huai’an, waiting to interview for a job with the local tax collector.

“I never thought I’d go for civil-servant jobs,” said Sun, 21. “But the financial crisis is something that none of us would expect. We’re just desperate.”

The global financial meltdown is taking a toll on this year’s 6.1 million Chinese college graduates and the 1 million still unemployed from last year.

The government said the 2009 official urban registered unemployment rate may reach 4.6 percent – a three-decade high – as collapsing exports drag gross domestic product to its lowest growth rate in nine years.

That is turning off the pipeline depositing new graduates with multinational corporations and State companies, forcing many students to lower their sights and consider the once-unthinkable for them: a civil-service career. The last test for central government openings attracted about 775,000 candidates – or 56 for every job, a 20 percent jump from the year before.

The China Disabled Person’s Federation received more than 4,700 applications for a community-organizer position, said Wei Chunfeng, a human resources official there. The starting salary is 3,000 yuan ($440) a month.

“Civil-servant jobs just became suddenly attractive again,” Wei said.

Sun took practice exams every day and earned the highest score of 60 applicants for a State Administration of Taxation office job in her hometown of Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, she said. She and two other finalists were scheduled for interviews.

“It wouldn’t be my dream job, but when I look around at my classmates, I think, ‘Oh God, I finally got settled!’” she said.

Source: Bloomberg Date: May 15, 2009

Notes:
1. Swap
动词：1 以……作交换（或交易）；与……作交换（或交易）2 交换，作交易
名词：1交换 2 交换的东西； 交易品
2. Huddle
动词：1 挤成一团；聚集成群； 拥挤 2 蜷起身子；缩成一团；偎依；蹲伏 3 碰头，开会 4 匆忙地穿上
名词：1 杂乱的一团 2 秘密会议；私下碰头会
3. Civil-servant
名词：（一国政府或国际机构的）文职官员，文职雇员
4. Get settled
俚语，安顿好

For Chinese translation see P6 in today’s Global Times Chinese Edition.