Multinationals delay recruiting of graduates
March 24, 2020 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
Many multinational corporations in the Chinese mainland are delaying recruitment and cutting recruitment numbers this year due to the impact of the coronavirus, with some canceling their spring recruiting entirely. New graduates said that they face the worst-ever job-hunting season. Furniture retailer IKEA has slowed its recruitment, trying new methods such as online interviews. But the company stressed that it maintains full confidence toward the nation’s economic prospects and its demand for talent will not be changed. IKEA announced its grand opening of a flagship online store on Alibaba’s Tmall on March 10.
“We plan to cut 40% of this year’s recruitment quota in the Chinese mainland as the epidemic has cast a shadow on the company’s revenue prospects,” an employee at a German air-conditioning system producer told the Global Times. The remaining 60% of the hiring plan is “rigid demand for some positions,” she said. China has a record-high number of 8.74 million college graduates this year, official data showed. New graduates have also expressed their concerns online about the current spring job-hunting season, with some saying that their interview appointments have been canceled. “I have postponed my schedule to apply for jobs,” said Chinese master’s graduate Vera Wang who graduated from Nanyang Technological University in February. She delayed her journey back to China till the end of April and noted that there are obviously less good job opportunities than before the outbreak.
Government departments have rolled out measures to offer more opportunities and encourage companies to expand recruitment. Twelve online recruiting fairs have been organized by the Ministry of Education and other departments, and 18 other national job fairs were under preparation, Vice Minister Weng Tiehui told a press conference on February 28. According to job information provider Boss Zhipin, the job market entered the stage of rapid recovery on February 24, with month-on-month growth exceeding 30% for two consecutive weeks. Hiring demand five weeks after the Spring Festival has returned to 85% of that in the same period in 2019, the Global Times reports.
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