Ministry works to solve job market challenges

Job seekers ask for information at a career fair for college graduates in Changchun, Jilin province, on Sept 25. CHI XIAOWEI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Continuous efforts have been made to stabilize the job market, and address discrimination and unreasonable requirements placed by employers on potential employees, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Latest figures from the ministry show that about 10 million people successfully gained employment in urban areas in the past nine months.

According to the ministry, the government has expanded the coverage of unemployment benefits to include college graduates who haven't landed jobs two years after graduating and those unemployed aged from 16 to 24.

Included in the policy, companies will receive a one-time payment of a maximum of 1,500 yuan ($208) per person when they offer jobs to job seekers on benefits.

To help the unemployed, especially college graduates, migrant workers and retired military members, the government has organized nearly 120,000 job fairs both online and offline across the nation in the past three quarters. Over 100 million vacancies were offered at these job fairs.

The ministry said college graduates remain one of the priorities of the government's employment drive, and students in poor financial situations are getting assistance.

As of September, the government had posted 1.02 million internships and 43,000 grassroots vacancies for this year's college graduates.

In addition to channeling job information to the labor force, the government has also carried out actions to protect people's working rights by improving the labor arbitration system and regulating illegal behaviors such as discrimination and defaulting on salaries.

A recent action plan by the State Council, China's Cabinet, said that it's necessary to explore ways to secure flexible workers' rights when they get work-related injuries.

The plan said the government will strictly handle discrimination against recovered COVID-19 patients to ensure people are treated fairly when applying for jobs.

According to the human resources ministry, it is undertaking a five-month campaign from Aug 20 to late January to tackle issues around pay defaults faced by migrant workers.