What are the characteristics of the employment situation in China?

1. The initial employment rate shows an inverted "U" trend with time.

The initial employment rate is defined as the proportion of all graduates who have signed a contract, whose company has been confirmed, are waiting to sign a contract, are freelance, start their own businesses, have flexible employment, have attended graduate school and have gone abroad (different from the definition in labor economics). The initial employment rate is inverted U-shaped, rising from 59.8% in 2003 to 69.9% in 2005, and then rising to 7 1. 1% in 2007, and dropping to 67. 1% in 2009. In 2007, the first employment rate was the highest, and the proportion of freelancing, self-employment and flexible employment was significantly higher than that in other two years, which was about 10 percentage point higher. Especially from the statistical results, the proportion of "confirmed units" when graduates graduate is below 50%. In 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009, the proportion was 40.4%, 47.2%, 40.4% and 34.5% respectively. In 2009, the situation was the worst, falling below 40% for the first time.

From the comparison of education level, the employment situation presents the following characteristics: First, the higher the education level, the better the employment situation, indicating that employers have a greater preference for high academic qualifications in the college graduates market. Secondly, from the changing trend, the initial employment rate of graduates at all levels is also inverted "U" shape. It is worth mentioning that in 2007, the initial employment rate of college graduates has caught up with and surpassed that of undergraduate graduates, 0.7 percentage points higher. In particular, the proportion of junior college students in "unit establishment", "freelance", "self-employment" and "other flexible employment" is obviously higher than that of undergraduates, while undergraduates only have relative advantages in "further studies" and "going abroad/leaving the country". The reason for this situation may be that during 2003-2007, the economic development of China was influenced by China's entry into the World Trade Organization, and the total import and export volume and investment in fixed assets increased substantially, which facilitated the employment of private enterprises and foreign trade enterprises, so the social demand for graduates from higher vocational colleges increased more. However, this financial crisis has the greatest impact on China's import and export, and foreign trade-related enterprises have been greatly impacted. In 2009, the initial employment rate of all levels of education showed a certain downward trend.

2. After years of stability, the actual starting salary of graduates increased significantly in 2009.

The survey shows that the starting salary has the following two characteristics: first, the starting salary increases with the improvement of education level. Taking 2009 as an example, the monthly starting salary of each educational level is 15 10 yuan, 2,276 yuan, 3,637 yuan and 3,757 yuan respectively; Second, the nominal monthly starting salary of graduates shows a trend of slow growth year by year. The average starting salaries in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 were 1.569 yuan, 1.659 yuan, 1.798 yuan and 233/kloc-0 yuan respectively. However, if adjusted according to the consumer price index (CPI), the actual average starting salary in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 is 1.569 yuan, 1.598 yuan and 1.978 yuan respectively. One of the main reasons for the sharp increase in the monthly average starting salary in 2009 is that the structure of employment units has changed greatly, and the employment ratio of state-owned enterprises, institutions and state organs has increased greatly.

3. The work unit structure of employed graduates fluctuates greatly.

From the nature of work units, state organs, schools, state-owned enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises and private enterprises are the most important employment units for college graduates. (1) Before 2007, the biggest growth rate was private enterprises, accounting for 10.7% in 2003, rising to 16.3% in 2005 and further rising to 34.2% in 2007. In 2007, private enterprises became the most important unit for graduates' employment. However, due to the global financial crisis in 2009, the proportion of private enterprises dropped to 3 1.0%, ranking second. (2) Before 2007, the biggest decline was in schools, which accounted for 23. 1% in 2003, dropped to 19.3% in 2005, further dropped to 5.4% in 2007, but rebounded slightly to 6.0% in 2009. (3) Before 2007, state-owned enterprises also showed an obvious downward trend, but in 2009, there was a big rebound. The proportion was 34.5% in 2003, decreased to 29.7% in 2005, further decreased to 23.5% in 2007, and rose to 34.5% in 2009, returning to the first place. (4) Foreign-funded enterprises are also an important choice for graduates, accounting for 6.8% in 2009. In addition, the proportion of state organs has remained at around 10%, and in 2009 it was 10.9%.

Especially in 2009, the employment situation of graduates was obviously affected by the financial crisis, the proportion of state-owned units generally increased, and the proportion of foreign-funded enterprises and private enterprises decreased. There may be two reasons for this structural change: first, the government has adopted many employment policies to promote college students' employment, and all the positions that the government can provide are state-owned units, and the absolute increase of positions in state-owned units has led to an increase in the proportion of state-owned units; Second, because the employment opportunities of foreign-funded enterprises and private enterprises are obviously reduced, even if the number of jobs in state-owned units does not increase, the relative proportion of state-owned units will increase. In other words, an increase in the proportion of employment in a certain work unit does not necessarily mean an absolute increase in jobs.

4. Schools, friends, relatives and the Internet have become the troika for obtaining work information.

Job-seeking information is very important for job seekers' job-seeking results. The survey found that: (1) "demand information released by employment guidance institutions of schools (including departments)" has always been the main source of information for graduates to apply for jobs, but its proportion showed a downward trend, from 47.7% in 2003 to 37.8% in 2009. Nevertheless, it is still much higher than other sources of information. (2) In the four surveys, the proportion of information sources reached 10%, namely "information introduced by parents and relatives" and "online recruitment information". In 2009, the proportions of these two channels were 12.5% and 18.3% respectively.

Judging from the changing trend, the importance of "information introduced by parents and relatives" and "information introduced by friends or acquaintances" has increased significantly, and the proportion of online recruitment information has also increased significantly. It can be seen that schools, friends, relatives and the Internet have become the troika for graduates to obtain work information, accounting for 77.9% in 2009.

5. The employment opportunities of boys are significantly higher than those of girls, and the gender difference in starting salary is significant.

Gender factors have a significant impact on graduates' employment opportunities, and the probability of boys finding jobs is obviously greater than that of girls. Gender factors also have a significant impact on the starting salary level of graduates, and the starting salary level of boys is higher than that of girls. Gender differences are mainly reflected in science, engineering, agriculture and medicine.

In 2009, the initial employment rate of male graduates was 7 1.7%, while that of female graduates was 6 1.7%, with a difference of 10 percentage point. The average monthly salary of male graduates is 2459 yuan, while that of female graduates is 2 1442 yuan, with a difference of 3 15 yuan.

6. Graduates feel that working ability, academic status and job-hunting skills are the most important factors affecting employment.

According to the survey of graduates' subjective feelings, they think that the factors affecting employment have the following characteristics: (1) The factors directly related to work are the most important. "Working ability" has been ranked at 1, while "having relevant internship and work experience" has risen from the seventh place in 2003 and has been ranked second in recent years. (2) Education level, school reputation, popular majors and other factors that reflect graduates' higher education are also very important. Graduates generally believe that the higher the education, the easier it is to find a job, and graduates from prestigious schools and popular majors have more advantages in job hunting. (3) Application skills and image temperament have become very important factors for graduates, even exceeding professional types and school reputation.

7. Graduates still choose to work in their hometown or school.

Whether analyzing the employment flow of graduates from the perspective of students or the location of colleges and universities, the local employment rate has remained at a high level. In 2008, according to the statistical results of students' origin, the national average was 82.3%, that is to say, 82.3% of graduates were employed in students' origin, with Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai having the highest proportion, accounting for 95.3%; Followed by the eastern region (excluding Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai), the proportion is 89.0%; The third is the western region, accounting for 76.7%; The central region has the lowest proportion, accounting for 75.6%. In 2008, according to the statistical results of the location of colleges and universities, the national average was 74.6%, that is to say, 74.6% of the graduates in the country were employed in the location of colleges and universities, with the eastern region (excluding Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) accounting for the highest proportion, accounting for 88.3%; Followed by the western region, the proportion is 69.6%; The third is Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, accounting for 66.3%; The central region has the lowest proportion, accounting for 64.8%. This shows that the location of students and institutions has a more important impact on graduates' job hunting.

8. "Peacock flying southeast" is still the main feature of mobility.

Judging from the scale of inflow and outflow of graduates, the eastern region has always been the region with the largest inflow, and the highest proportion of inflow and outflow is Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai; The central region is the region with the largest outflow scale and the lowest inflow and outflow ratio; The situation in the western region is close to that in the central region, and the inflow-outflow ratio is slightly higher than that in the central region. This shows that the phenomenon of "peacocks flying southeast" among college graduates in China is still obvious.

9. The relative proportion of "Peacocks flying southeast" is decreasing.

Judging from the inflow and outflow trend of graduates, although the eastern region (including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) is still very attractive to students in the central and western regions, from 2004 to 2008, the employment of graduates from the central and western regions in the eastern region generally showed a downward trend. In contrast, the proportion of students who graduated from the eastern region to the central and western regions is on the rise. The reasons for this trend are: on the one hand, the national employment policy and development strategy may have an impact on the whereabouts of graduates, and at the same time, the labor market in the eastern region, which traditionally absorbs college graduates, is saturated, which makes it difficult for graduates to find jobs. It should be noted that this general trend was reversed to some extent in 2008, that is, the proportion of students from the eastern region went to the central and western regions decreased, while the proportion of graduates from the central and western regions employed in the eastern region increased compared with 2007. According to the existing data, this trend is not clear, but whether the labor market has changed and led to this change needs further follow-up research.