¡¡  BEIJING, April 7 -- According to an April 3 report in the Beijing-based newspaper Guangming Daily, workers below 30 change jobs at least once every five years, with the result that some would make a switch at least seven times in their working lifetime.

    About 50 percent of college graduates job-hop within a year of securing their first professional stint because up to 33 percent of them consider their first jobs to be only a period of adjustment, a way of easing into the real world.

    Twenty years ago, the Chinese government assigned jobs to people. There was something for everyone. Moreover, they were lifelong assignments.

    But many changes have taken place since China implemented its policy of reform and opening-up in the late 1970s. One of the knock-on effects of a changing marketplace has been a changing society and mindset. Previously inconceivable concepts such as "choosing your own career," "competing for a position," "retrenchment from state-owned enterprises," "job hopping" and "unemployed white-collar workers" slowly emerged.

    Even the term haigui, which refers to a person who has returned from overseas (usually an honorable position to be in), has been transformed into haidai, which means a person who has returned from overseas actively seeking employment (a not-so-honorable position to be in).

    A matter of growing concern is that a university degree is no longer considered a ticket to guaranteed employment. Once held in high esteem, university graduates now find themselves faced with a dismal state of affairs where "graduation means unemployment."

    This year, an estimated 4.1 million graduates will join the job-hunting pool. Being employed by someone is no longer a way out of this increasingly competitive environment, which is why local governments are encouraging graduates to start their own businesses with preferential policies and other perks.

    Another major change that has taken place is that of merit over social standing. Successful careers these days are carved out of genuine skills and knowledge rather than social backgrounds.

    Many of the people who've made it to China's rich-list have been rags-to-riches success stories, including Liu Yongxing and his brothers, who started out as quail and chicken farmers but have now diversified their portfolios to include real estate and electronics; Huang Guangyu, founder of GoMe Appliances, China's biggest electronics retailer; and Chen Tianqiao, CEO and co-founder of Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd.

    Lay-offs beginning in the 1980s have also played a crucial role in eroding any employer-employee loyalty that might have existed before.

    According to statistics, job-hopping is more often seen in the sales, real estate and advertising professions. Sales see an average turnover rate of 30 percent a year, real estate 10 to 20 percent, and advertising about 10 percent.

    Ostensibly, it would seem that there are more and more options out there for job seekers to choose from. While some traditional professions have disappeared or become redundant, new ones have emerged to take their place. The tertiary industries including transportation, post and telecommunications, services, finance and sports are developing rapidly. The information industry is particularly healthy and it has huge development potential.

    In addition, the central government creates new positions on a regular basis to add to employment opportunities. Last December, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security formally introduced 10 new professions including in-house environment controller, gardening & landscape designer, master of ceremonies, digital video designer, integrated-circuit tester, e-learning course developer, neon light maker and computer-aided music score creator. They are the fifth batch of new professions to have been introduced.

    These new professions were carefully selected based on current concerns surrounding quality of life, and the use of high and new technology.

    These changes all indicate a trend where people are taking control of their lives and careers, a concept that is becoming increasingly important in modern-day China.

    (Source: China.org.cn)