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Q4 demand for labor exceeds supply

Wang Hongyi
Updated: Jan 14,2015 8:07 AM     China Daily

The demand for labor in the market during the fourth quarter of 2014 exceeded supply, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The ministry released its report earlier this week on the employment situation in the country’s 105 cities.

Labor demand exceeded supply with 4,940,000 vacant positions being available through various employment bodies during the fourth quarter of 2014, 10.4 percent lower than the third quarter. There were 4.3 million job seekers, 13 percent lower than the previous quarter.

From a regional standpoint, demand for workers grew in the country’s eastern and western regions. The demand in the eastern region increased 87,000, a 3.3 percent increase over the same period the previous year. And the western region saw a growth of 116,000 jobs, or 13.3 percent over the same period the previous year.

Sources at Shanghai’s universities say an increasing number of graduates are looking for career opportunities in the middle and western regions.

“In recent years, more graduates have gone to do grassroots work or chosen to develop their careers in the western region,” said Yang Deqing, director of the employment guidance office at Shanghai-based Fudan University. “More than 600 students who graduated in 2014 have chosen to work in the western region or at the grassroots level.”

Data from Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University showed that more than 60 percent of graduates in 2014 choose to work in the middle and western regions, grassroots bodies and the country’s key industries.

According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security report, the demand for professional personnel and workers with technical skills has increased. Nearly 60 percent of positions have specified requirements of career certification at a technical level.

Many sectors had less demand for personnel during the fourth quarter, but demand in manufacturing and service industries rose compared to the previous quarter, it said.

The industries with higher labor demand include the production and supply sectors of the electric power, gas and water industries; agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries; transport, storage and postal industry; information, computer service and software industries; manufacturing and other services industries.

Wholesale, retail, hotel and catering, and mining industries saw a negative growth for labor demand.