88% of Chinese college graduates engage in 'job-hopping'

The recent "2010 Graduate Employment Report" pointed out that more than 20 percent of 2009 college graduates quit their jobs within six months, each of the 2006 college graduates has changed jobs twice within three years and 88 percent of college graduates have quit their jobs on their own, also known as "job-hopping," according to China Youth Daily.

A survey of 96 employers conducted by the Beijing municipal government also shows that 70 percent of college graduates changed their first job within three years.

Why can current graduates not overcome the "three year itch?" The "2010 Graduate Employment Report" found that current graduates changed their jobs not for money, but for their prospects.

Around 31 percent of respondents said "limited space for personal development," was their primary reason for switching jobs, which ranked first among reasons on the survey. It was followed by "low wages and benefits" and "desire to change occupation or field," which accounted for 25 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

There are significant differences between the kinds of skills college students believe employers are seeking and what employers' actually demand, according to the "2008-2010 China's Employment Strategic Report" released by the School of Labor and Human Resources under Renmin University in June 2010.

To be specific, employers place the greatest emphasis on five aspects of graduates, including responsibility, professional ethics, verbal ability, learning ability and problem-solving ability. However, college students believe that employers value problem-solving ability, foreign language skills, planning and coordination ability, learning ability and computer skills.

By People's Daily Online