Graduates prefer government jobs over private ones - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

China's best and brightest still prefer government jobs over joining the private sector, says professor Zhang Juwei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Population and Labor Economics to CNN. "The private sector in China is not very well structured or developed." But government jobs are hard to get

CNN:

Central government jobs are often described as a "golden rice bowl" for their stable income and generous benefits. Officialdom can also lead to membership of the Chinese Communist Party -- a status symbol in China. 

But with only 19,000 jobs available, ... chances of a civil service career are slim. The exam (of this year) attracted record numbers of applicants, with 1.52 million completing the online registration process up from 30,000 in 2001. 

When China's economy first opened up 30 years ago, going into private business or commerce was seen as the best way to get ahead. But the civil service first began attracting huge numbers of applicants a decade ago, said Zhang Juwei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Population and Labor Economics.

"The private sector in China is not very well structured or developed like the U.S.," he said. 

"Most of the people in private companies in China, unless their positions are high, they usually don't pay well or have a clear career ladder to move up."

More at CNN.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Action needed to narrow wealth gap - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

The wealth gap in China, reflected in the gini coefficient, is moving into dangerous heights, and government action is needed to narrow to divide between rich and poor, says professor Zhang Juwei, director of the labor and social security research center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to the China Daily.

The China Daily:

The Gini coefficient - a measure of income inequality commonly used by economists and institutions - reached 0.47 in China in 2005, overtaking the recognized warning level of 0.4, according to the World Bank. 

Although no new calculation has been released to gauge the latest situation of income inequality in China, the previous World Bank figure basically represents the nation's current situation and the gap is widening dramatically, said Zhang Juwei, professor and director of the labor and social security research center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 

Zhou Tianyong, senior economist of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said in a recent article that in 2008, the Gini coefficient was 0.47 in China. 

"When the Gini coefficient reaches around 0.5, it means the inequality problem is extremely severe and needs immediate action to bring it down," Zhang said... 

As for solutions, analysts are divided on where the strongest measures should be taken. Zhang said the emphasis should be placed on the primary distribution of national income. "It is the root of the income distribution system. The government should do more to raise the proportion of laborers' incomes in the income basket, which has been declining for years," he said, adding that capital investment has been a major reason for the disproportionately high ratio of wealth held by the rich. 

He said raising farmers' incomes is a practical measure and by doing that, the salaries of low-income groups like migrant workers would also go up.

More at the China Daily.

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China needs focus on vocational education - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

A fast shrinking labor force, which mostly gets a college degree, creates a dramatic shortage of skill labor workers, China used to have plentiful in the past, says  Zhang Juwei, director of the Institute of Population and Labor Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to Caixin.

Caixin:

The one-child policy, which led to a drop in birthrates, has led to a decline in the number of young people entering the workforce. But the pool of semi-skilled blue-collar workers, which was once plentiful, is drying up as more young people opt for a college education and prefer to work in the service sectors.


Nearly half the new entrants in the Chinese job market have a college degree, but there is a mismatch between their skills and what the market needs, said Zhang Juwei, director of the Institute of Population and Labor Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, at the same seminar on Saturday.
Zhang said China's education system needs to offer better vocational training and teach practical skills to youth.

More in Caixin. Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form. 

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Capping SOE´s top salaries helps firm - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

Against the global trend, China is capping the salaries of the leaders of its major state-owned companies. A good idea, says Zhang Juwei of the Chinnese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)  in the Global Times, and in the long run beneficial for the quality of those firms.

The Global Times:

The executives' payroll will also be capped at seven to eight times the average pay of SOE employees, a decrease from the current rate of about 12 times. 

With the new pay regime that adds incentive income to SOE executives' salary evaluation, the executives are likely to become more involved in longer-term growth of their enterprises, Zhang Juwei, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Pay cuts for executives at the 72 central SOEs will also be used as a reference for regulation of bosses at other SOEs, Zhang believes, urging stricter oversight of the executives' performance to keep them motivated. 

The 72 central SOEs are the first batch of State firms to face executive pay cuts, with more batches of SOEs set to face similar pay cuts in the future though the dates are still unknown... 

The 72 central SOEs are mostly in fields such as finance, energy and telecommunications where the State companies are seen as having a monopoly, Zhang said, noting it is reasonable to cut salaries of executives at these SOEs in order to avoid an excessive income gap. 

According to a report released by Chinese website operator NetEase on November 5, the average annual salaries of employees with the listed arms of central SOEs was 3.7 times higher than the salaries of urban private firm employees in 2013.

More in the Global Times.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you interested in more stories by Zhang Juwei? Check out this recent list.   

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Closing the wealth gap by cutting executives´salaries - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

Worldwide corporate executives might earn more than ever before, China is cutting their salaries to reduce the gap between poor and rich. China´s state owned companies (SOE´s) are setting an example, says Zhang Juwei, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), at the Global Times.

Global Times:

The executives' payroll will also be capped at seven to eight times the average pay of SOE employees, a decrease from the current rate of about 12 times. 

With the new pay regime that adds incentive income to SOE executives' salary evaluation, the executives are likely to become more involved in longer-term growth of their enterprises, Zhang Juwei, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Pay cuts for executives at the 72 central SOEs will also be used as a reference for regulation of bosses at other SOEs, Zhang believes, urging stricter oversight of the executives' performance to keep them motivated. 

The 72 central SOEs are the first batch of State firms to face executive pay cuts, with more batches of SOEs set to face similar pay cuts in the future though the dates are still unknown. 

Because executives at the 72 central SOEs are appointed by the central government, their salaries should be different from chiefs selected by companies, Liu Quanhong, a research fellow at the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under theNational Development and Reform Commission, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

The 72 central SOEs are mostly in fields such as finance, energy and telecommunications where the State companies are seen as having a monopoly, Zhang said, noting it is reasonable to cut salaries of executives at these SOEs in order to avoid an excessive income gap.

More at the Global Times.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.  

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Job seekers prefer government over private firms - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

While slowly the private companies are gaining strength, job seekers in China prefer the civil service over a corporate career, tells Zhang Juwei of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Population and Labor Economics at CNN. And that might not change very fast.

CNN:

When China's economy first opened up 30 years ago, going into private business or commerce was seen as the best way to get ahead. But the civil service first began attracting huge numbers of applicants a decade ago, said Zhang Juwei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Population and Labor Economics. "The private sector in China is not very well structured or developed like the U.S.," he said. "Most of the people in private companies in China, unless their positions are high, they usually don't pay well or have a clear career ladder to move up."

More at CNN.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

 China Weekly Hangout
The +China Weekly Hangout will have open office hours coming Thursday, where you can drop in to discuss any issue, but where we want to focus on technical problems you have or we have had with hangouts. The development of this Google tool is going pretty fast, offering every week more new bells and whistles, but also with regularly new challenges.
You can join us on Thursday 28 November 10pm Beijing time, 3pm CET (Europe) or 9am EST (US/Canada). You can read our announcement here, or join the event by watching, commenting or actively joining at our event page. 

A changing labor force
On May 24 the +China Weekly Hangout discussed China's changing labor force with +Dee Lee (Inno), of the NGO +Inno Community Development Organisation in Guangzhou. He is running a workers' hotline, mainly funded by big brands who want to keep an eye on working conditions. Economist Heleen Mees, in New York, +Sam Xu and +Fons Tuinstra, of the China Speakers Bureau, ask him questions.

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The repositioning of China's labor market - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

Cheap factory labor is phasing out in China, but the country has new assets to offer in terms of labor, says Zhang Juwei, deputy director at the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS) in the China Daily. Now, high-qualify labor for a lower price might offer just that opportunity.

The China Daily:

According to Zhang Juwei, deputy director of the Institute of Population and Labor Economicsunder the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China's work force is now attracting overseasenterprises because of its performance-cost ratio rather than just its low cost. "It is the relativelylower cost of higher-quality labor rather than purely the low cost of labor that attracts foreigncompanies now," he said. 

This is because China's labor market does not offer enough positions for graduates; so withsupply exceeding demand their starting salaries are not much higher than those without college diplomas, he said.... 

"China needs to seize the opportunity to redefine its position in the global industrial chain, andattract more professional jobs rather than low-paid manufacturing jobs for its laborers," said Zhang.

More in The China Daily.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.  

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Government should limit salaries SOE-execs - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

Chinese executives of state-owned giants are following their Western counterparts in the salaries they claim from their companies. Wrong, says Zhang Juwei, director at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the China Daily. The government should limit their salaries. The China Daily:

Zhang Juwei, deputy director of the Institute of Population and Labor Economics under theChinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the government should set a long-term mechanismto limit the salary of SOE executives even if the companies are performing extremely well. "These executives are not recruited from the market but assigned by the government. Manyhuge SOEs have important social functions to provide welfare to society, such as energy andtransportation," said Zhang. "Paying too much will also affect the feelings of civil servants whodo a similar job to the SOE executives." Zhang suggested imposing regulations on the salary of SOE executives based on the salariesof civil servants at an equivalent level.

More in the China Daily Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.  

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Imbalance, not overpopulation is our problem - Zhang Juwei

Aging, one of China's problems

Even China's mostly optimistic People's Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, admits the country has a problem with its demographics, after the results of the latest census appeared. Huge imbalances are China's largest problem, tells Zhang Juwei in MSNBC, no longer overpopulation.

“China doesn’t have overpopulation pressure,” said Zhang Juwei, the deputy chief of the Population and Labor Economics Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  “A structural imbalance is the real problem we’re facing.”
By that, Zhang means a whole host of problems that the one-child policy has engendered.

Image by Fantake via Flickr

Zhang Juwei

Key findings of the new census confirmed Zhang’s points, even prompting the official Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily, to say “a crisis looms” and giving rise to a catchphrase found in much of the Western media coverage, that “China will grow older before it gets richer.”

More in MSNBC.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

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Labor shortage will cause stagnation - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei by Fantake via Flickr

China's economy will face stagnation in the short term because of the ongoing shortage of labor, tells CASS-professor Zhang Juwei state news agency Xinhua in a dispatch about the effect of aging, based on the latest results from the National Bureau of Statistics.

"The potential emergence of a labor shortage is likely to contribute to slower economic growth in the short term," said Zhang Juwei, professor and director of the Labor and Social Security Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
China has already reaped the benefits of a demographic dividend, which is believed to have played a role in the country's economic breakthrough, having enjoyed the advantage of abundant cheap labor for decades.
"Wage increases are the most direct response to labor shortages. That will definitely squeeze the profit margin for some low value-added manufacturers," Zhang said.

More in Xinhua.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

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The fading line between graduates and migrant workers - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei

More graduates take up jobs that do not require education, while more migrant workers have a college education, tells professor Zhang Juwei of the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing in PhBeta. "Demand and supply of the labor market are imbalanced.

“The largest group of graduates who’ve taken up jobs that do not require a college diploma has grow to be blue-collar workers,” says Zhang, who has been studying the labor difficulties in the country for a lengthy time. “Many other graduates have entered simple service sectors like security and housekeeping.”
Disproportionate availability of jobs across industries is the prime trigger of the trend, he says. The number of students graduating from colleges multiplied from 3.3 million in 2005 to 5.59 million in 2008. The graduates typically are employed in service sectors and function at office.

Zhang says the country’s relatively backward economic structure and inferior position in the world industrial chain is the trigger of this imbalance. China’s economic growth has relied heavily on the second industry(manufacturing and construction), which accounts for about half of the total economic output, while the tertiary industry accounts for only about 40 percent, significantly lower than in most developed countries.

Besides, China is still downstream in the global industrial chain, which deprives it of creating numerous jobs. “Many job opportunities including designing, analysis and development, and marketplaceing appeal to and will need individuals with higher qualifications but they’re not properly or adequately distributed in China, for several goods produced here are designed abroad.”

Take iPhone for instance. While foreign designers and researchers function out the best way to add value to the product and attract far more customers, Chinese workers only assemble and package them. That is why college graduates might have fewer opportunities in China than abroad. Having compared Chinese and foreign college graduates, Zhang discovered that much less than 3 percent of the country’s graduates are likely to begin their own business compared with 20 percent in developed countries. That dries up a lot of job opportunities, due to the fact if one individual starts a business, he/she could provide employment to numerous other people.

More in PhBeta.

Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Labor force will shrink after 2015 - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei by Fantake via Flickr

Are you already worried about the shortage of labor and its rising costs in China? Zhang Juwei of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) tells Business Week the real labor problems are only developing after 2015.

The workforce—those from 15 to 64 years old—will plateau at almost 1 billion in 2015 and then start to shrink, figures the World Bank. These trends will help drive labor costs higher. "Over the next 10 years, this will become a serious problem," says Zhang Juwei, deputy director of the Institute of Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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Do you want to hear more from one of China's leading academics on its labor force? Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

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Graduate unemployment a temporary problem - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei by Fantake via Flickr

China export industry might be suffering from labor shortage, but its large number of university graduates find it hard to get a job. A temporary problem, says deputy director Zhang Juwei of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Business Week, although he is not underestimating the current problem.
In Business Week:

Already, the government is claiming a small victory of sorts, with the Education Ministry announcing recently that the rate of employment for recent graduates rose from 68 percent in 2009 to 72.2 percent this year. "As the economic structure changes, more suitable jobs for graduates will be created," says Zhang Juwei, deputy director at the Institute of Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Although Zhang may be right, that scenario is little comfort to the more than 25 percent of recent grads still hunting for work.

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Zhang Juwei is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you want to share his insights at your conference or meeting? Do get in touch.

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'Black children' a rural myth - Zhang Juwei

Zhang Juwei  by Fantake via Flickr

For a long time the existence of 'black children' at China's country side- offspring outside the country's one-child policy and not accounted for in its statistics - were seen as an illegal but useful counter measure for the aging problem and the shortage of cheap labor. But the rural fertility rate is not as high as many hope for, tells CASS-director Zhang Juwei in The Economist. 
The Economist:

The recent CASS report said the rate that would be expected if women had exactly as many children as allowed would be 1.47. The government uses the higher figure believing that many “black children” were missed by censuses. But the report disagreed, saying such serious underreporting was unlikely. It said data showed that the 150m-strong migrant population has a fertility rate of only 1.14 (similar to that of registered urban residents). This belies the common image of migrants as big producers of unauthorised offspring. Zhang Juwei of CASS believes the overall fertility rate is no higher than 1.6.

China cannot avoid its looming ageing problem, but these lower fertility estimates suggest its impact could be greater than officials have bargained for. The CASS study calls for a “prompt” change of policy to get the fertility rate up to around the “replacement level” of 2.1. The problem could be in persuading Chinese to have more children. In cities and wealthier rural areas, surveys found that the number of babies women said they actually wanted would produce a fertility rate well below 1.47.

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