在中國的招聘會上，雇主節儉，求職者審慎

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

At job fairs in China, employers are thrifty and applicants timid

Sun, February 19, 2023 at 5:03 p.m. PST

By Ellen Zhang and Florence Lo

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's job fairs are making a comeback after being forced online by COVID-19 for three years, but subdued wages and less abundant offerings in sectors exposed to weakening external demand point to an uneven and guarded economic recovery.

Authorities announced hundreds of such events across the country this month, the latest sign that China is returning to its pre-COVID way of life and that youth unemployment, a major headache for Beijing, may ease from its near 20% peak.

In a country of 1.4 billion people, job fairs are one of the most efficient ways for employers and workers to connect. Although attendees said their long-awaited return is encouraging, some were not brimming with confidence.

"I only pray for a stable job, and do not have high salary expectations," said Liu Liangliang, 24, who was looking for a job in a hotel or property management company at a fair in Beijing on Thursday, one of more than 40 held in the capital in February. "The COVID outbreak has hurt many people. There will be more job seekers battling for offers this year."

Employment anxiety is widespread.

A survey of about 50,000 white-collar workers published on Thursday by Zhaopin, one of China's biggest recruiting firms, showed 47.3% of respondents were worried they may lose their jobs this year, up from 39.8% a year ago.

About 60% cited the "uncertain economic environment" as the main factor affecting their confidence, up from 48.4% in 2022.

Job confidence of those working in consumer-facing sectors, which are recovering faster from a low base, was higher than in sectors such as manufacturing, affected by weakening external demand, or property, which has only just started to show tentative signs of stabilising, the survey showed.

A human resources manager at Beijing Xiahang Jianianhua Hotel, who only gave his surname Zhang, said his company had three times more job openings compared with last year, as Chinese resumed travelling.

By contrast, Jin Chaofeng, whose company exports outdoor rattan furniture, said he has no plans to add to his payroll as orders from abroad are slowing.

"People in my industry are waiting and seeing, prudently," he said, adding that he plans to cut production by 20%-30% in March from a year earlier.

Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC, expects the service and manufacturing sectors to run at vastly different speeds this year, but said overall employment in China should grow.

"Restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues are now scrambling to hire staff. This is especially helpful for younger workers," Neumann said. "The youth unemployment rate should start to fall in the coming months."

China's economy grew 3% last year, in one of its weakest performances in nearly half a century. Policymakers are expected to aim for growth of about 5%, which would still be below the blistering pre-pandemic pace.

That's partly because the pain caused by stringent COVID rules persists.

At another job fair in the capital, Wei, a former cleaner looking for similar work, said she and her unemployed husband are struggling with credit card debt.

Wei, who has a child in primary school and did not want to give her full name, citing personal privacy, quit her previous job last year after her employer wanted to cut her wages to 3,200 yuan ($465.34) per month from 3,500 yuan despite demanding she work late hours to conduct COVID-related disinfection.

"We owe the banks hundreds of thousands yuan," she said. "We are overwhelmingly anxious."

Translation

北京（路透社）- 中國的招聘會因 COVID-19 被迫上線三年後捲土重來，但因工資低迷, 和受外部需求疲軟影響的行業所提供的招聘減少, 顯示出一個不平衡及審慎的經濟復甦。

當局本月在全國宣布了數百起此類招聘會，這是中國正在恢復新冠疫情前生活方式的最新跡象，而令北京頭疼的青年失業率可能會從近 20% 的峰值有所緩解。

在一個擁有 14 億人口的國家，招聘會是雇主和工人聯繫的最有效方式之一。 儘管與會者表示他們期待已久的回歸令人鼓舞，但有些人並不是充滿信心。

24 歲的 Liu Liangliang 週四在北京的一個展會上找有一份在酒店或物業管理公司工作，她說： “我希望穩定的工作, 對薪水沒有很高的期望” 。這是 2 月份在首都舉行40 多展會中的一個; “新冠疫情傷害了很多人。今年會有更多的求職者爭奪工作機會。”

就業焦慮普遍存在。

智聯招聘是中國最大的招聘公司之一，週四對約 50,000 名白領工人進行的調查顯示，47.3% 的受訪者擔心他們今年可能會失業，高於一年前的 39.8%。

大約 60% 的人將 “不確定的經濟環境” 列為影響他們信心的主要因素，高於 2022 年的 48.4%。

調查顯示, 面向消費者的行業工作的人的就業信心, 從較低的基數中恢復得更快，高於例如受外部需求疲軟影響的製造業, 或剛剛開始出現初步穩定跡象的房地產行業。

北京 Xiahang Jianianhua 酒店一位只透露姓Zhang的人力資源經理說，隨著中國人恢復旅行，他的公司的職位空缺是去年的三倍。

相比之下，出口戶外藤製家具的 Jin Chaofeng 表示，由於國外訂單放緩，他沒有增加工資的計劃。

他說: “業內人士正在謹慎觀望”; 並補充說他計劃在 3 月份將產量較上年同期削減 20%-30%。

匯豐銀行首席亞洲經濟學家 Frederic Neumann 預計今年服務業和製造業的發展速度將大相徑庭，但表示中國的整體就業人數應該會增長。

Neumann 說: “餐館、酒店和娛樂場所現在都在爭先恐後地招聘員工。這對年輕員工尤其有幫助”; “未來幾個月,青年失業率應該會開始下降。”

中國經濟去年增長了 3%，是近半個世紀以來最疲弱的表現之一。 預計政策制定者的目標是實現 5% 左右的增長，這仍將低於病毒大流行前的強烈增長速度。

這在一定程度上是因為嚴格的 COVID 規則造成的痛苦持續存在。

在首都的另一個招聘會上，姓Wei的前清潔工正在尋找類似的工作，她說她和失業的丈夫都在為信用卡債務而苦苦掙扎。

姓Wei女士有一個上小學的孩子，她以個人隱私為由不願透露全名，去年她的雇主將她的工資從每月 3,500 元減至 3,200 元（合 465.34 美元）並要求她工作到很晚，以進行與 COVID 相關的消毒。她辭去了那份工作。

她說: “我們欠銀行幾十萬元”; “我們非常焦慮” 。

 So, China's job fairs are making a comeback after being forced online by COVID-19 for three years. Some experts expect that this year the recovery in service sectors will proceed at a faster speed compared to manufacturing sectors, but the overall employment in China will grow.

Note:

1. Zhaopin (智聯招聘)(www.zhaopin.com) was established in 1997. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. In the nine months ended March 31, 2014, 274,450 employers, including multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises and state-owned enterprises, posted about 11.4 million jobs on Zhaopin's platform. At present, the largest shareholder is Seek, the largest online recruitment company in Australia, holding 72.3% of the shares of Zhaopin. (Baido Wikipeida)