Shanghai Determined to Eliminate UnemploymentApproximately one million workers will receive various forms of professional training within next five years, when a zero unemployment rate is expected in Shanghai, China's leading economic center, according to the government.The Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau launched a plan this year to train 200,000 market-needed workers each year in the next five years, a bureau official said. Of the trainees, 300,000 are layoffs; another 200,000 are those who will transfer their previous jobs in manufacturing to the service sector; and the rest will be trained for skilled or senior positions in the city's industrial optimization drive, according to the bureau. In the late 1990s the city government trained about 400,000 persons who lost their jobs because of the reform of state enterprises, 60 percent of whom found jobs after the training. But many of the re-employed lost their jobs again soon after due to rapid market changes. The new plan is set to train workers who can meet changing demand of market, and trainees will also include those on-the-job, the official said. The city will also stress the training of professionals in new and hi-tech industries to serve local economic development, according to the plan. |
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