About 400,000 new jobs will be created over the next five years
to keep the unemployment rate in the city at a moderate level.
"The registered
unemployment rate should be down to around 4.5 percent by
the year 2005," said Yan Youmin, deputy director of the
Shanghai Municipal Labour and Social Security Bureau.
The number of registered
unemployed workers reached 200,800 last year, with the unemployment
rate coming in at 3.5 percent. But the figure did not include
those people who are unemployed but still draw a basic salary
from their poorly run State-owned enterprises.
"In future,
when they are included, it will give the appearance of rising
unemployment, but this will only be because there will no
longer be any concealed unemployment," according to Yan.
Though the economy
is expected to boom over the next five years, it will be hard
to achieve the set unemployment rate, said top local officials.
The local government
will continue to be held responsible for stimulating the creation
of job opportunities.
Its goal of creating
100,000 new jobs annually will remain in place for the next
two years. And an additional 200,000 jobs to be created from
2003 to 2005 will help ensure placement for local jobless
citizens.
The local government
has set a special fund to encourage enterprises to hire more
local unemployed. The average bonus for each such vacancy
created will be 1,000 yuan (US$120).
Older, less competitive
people will be given priority among job seekers. "Women
over 40 and men over 50 will be first considered," said
Vice-Mayor Chen Liangyu.
The government
will also encourage people to take part-time work, because
this new flexible form is beneficial for both employees and
employers.
The minimum hourly
wage is 4 yuan (US$0.48) plus another 2 yuan (US$0.24) for
the workers' social security fee.
Hourly work is
now popular in some areas and it should be organized and managed
according to regulations and standards. This new form of work
will be introduced to other areas such as the commercial and
service industries.
The social security
system will protect these hourly workers, providing various
types of insurance such as medical insurance, unemployment
insurance and old age insurance.
Shanghai will put
priority on the development of tertiary industries, such as
the service and dining industries. Such industries will be
given favorable tax breaks and other benefits.
About 1 million
local workers will receive advanced training over the next
five years to make them more competitive. This program will
include 300,000 unemployed people.
(China Daily 02/21/2001)
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