"Hukou" Holding Down New Grad Employment

Wang Yadong, the deputy director of the employment department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said on February 26 that job market prospects for Chinese college graduates will get darker in 2009 under the global-lay-off scene and called on the local government to get rid of the decades-long "hukou" restriction for college graduate employment, according to a Shanghai Securities Daily report.

The hukou, or residence permit, is a product of China's planned economy that has hassled hundreds of thousands of college graduates for decades. It prevents college graduates from working outside of their hometowns, without facing problems related to social welfare packages -- for example, when it comes time for the non-hukou holder's child to attend school he or she will have to pay a tremendous sponsorship fee.

China will have more than 6 million new college graduates this year, added to the previous group of graduates who haven't found jobs yet. Officials from the central and local governments acknowledge the difficult employment situation and are trying to change it with subsidies and reduced taxes for companies hiring graduates and assorted stipends for graduates willing to work for private companies, etc.

However, all these measures seem weak compared with getting rid of hukou restrictions and encouraging the free flow of college graduates. It's already hard enough to pass the national college entrance exam and even harder to find a job, so if someone can find a job in a city beyond her birth, let her do.

tags:graduates  hukou  graduate recruitment  college  

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