College graduates enter the job fair at Shanghai Polytechnic University on March 17, 2023. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

Shanghai on Friday kicked off a spring recruitment campaign to promote employment for a record high of 236,000 college graduates this year, with one of the largest in-person job fairs being held on the same day. It is part of the country's efforts to use multiple measures to boost employment.

More than 32,000 college graduates attended the in-person job fair at Shanghai Polytechnic University on Friday, with more than 1,500 employers participating in the event, providing over 37,000 vacancies, according to the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. The employers include state-owned enterprises and top 500 enterprises in industries such as integrated circuits and biomedicine.

Multiple measures will be carried out to ensure employment for college graduates including encouraging universities to invite more companies to job fairs on campuses and using the internet plus concept to guide graduates in a comprehensive manner to ease their anxiety, Ping Hui, an official of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, said at the launch ceremony on Friday. Other officials including Shanghai Vice Mayor Xie Dong also attended the event.

Many job seekers came to the recruitment site despite pouring rain on the day, and they lined up in a long queue outside the site in an orderly manner with their resumes in hand, hoping to find an opportunity inside.

At the booth of FedEx Logistics, Lu, an English-major graduate from Shanghai University was introducing herself in English to an interviewer. Lu told the Global Times it was her third visit to in-person job fair and she hoped to find a stable job. "I prefer to attend an in-person job fair as the employers will normally respond in a timely manner. I am still confident of finding a job, despite the anxiety during the process," Lu said.

Dong Yujin, director of human resources at Wanfeng Jinyuan Holding Group, a Shanghai-based private company with about 15,000 employees, sent out invitations to graduates on Friday. Dong told the Global Times that each year the company hires about 500 graduates on average from across the country. The company established a research and development team in Shanghai in 2022 and hopes to recruit more young talent.

Along with local Shanghai enterprises, a number of companies from neighboring cities also went to the job fair. At the booth of high-tech company Jiangsu JSL Tech, a member of staff surnamed Wang told the Global Times that the company had already spoken to several potential candidates. "The talent quality is quite good at the fair, and we will provide more than 30 job vacancies," Wang said.

The job seekers showed great enthusiasm, and more than 217,000 resumes were submitted, according to the education authorities.

The Ministry of Education has launched a campaign running from February to April for college graduates to boost employment during the spring recruitment season. Administrators of departments, teachers and student counselors are being encouraged to visit companies to seek job opportunities, and universities and colleges have been asked to guide graduates to think objectively and choose realistic careers.