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Unemployed Chinese Graduates Say No Thanks To Factory Jobs
hackingbear writes "While people and politicians are pitching for more education and reviving manufacturing in this country, jobs go begging in factories while many college educated young workers, which now number 11 times more than in 1989, are unemployed or underemployed in China. A national survey of urban residents, released this winter by a Chinese university, showed that among people in their early 20s, those with a college degree were four times as likely to be unemployed as those with only an elementary school education. Yet, it is not about the pay. Many factories are desperate for workers, despite offering double-digit annual pay increases and improved benefits, while an office job would initially pay as little as a third of factory wages. The glut of college graduates is eroding wages even for those with more marketable majors, like computer science. Vocational schools and training programs are unpopular because they suffer from a low status [or are seen as] for people from unsuccessful, poor, or peasant backgrounds. 'The more educated people are, the less they want to work in a factory,' said an unemployed graduate. If we do succeed bringing back factory jobs, are there enough people who want them?"
People still see factory jobs as being for "stupid" people and they are generally looked down on, while even terrible office work is considered acceptable. This shouldn't be.
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We've all heard the ancient urban myths about PhD's flipping burgers, but here in the States there seems to be a social stigma among younger graduates attached to manufacturing jobs that sometimes clouds one's financial judgement. Holding out for a cool-sounding title and a comfy chair over a steady job that pays considerably more, just because a lot of rednecks or minorities work there too, just doesn't make sense. You can still pursue your dream job while you earn a living, and you can do your laughing at the other people on payday.
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
As a holder of a graduate degree who can currently only get work as unskilled labor, I can see both sides of this. I work on the ramp at the airport, and while the job isn't really all that bad, intellectually it is unstimulating and rather boring; obviously I am also greatly overqualified for it. The thing is, turns out there are a lot of people there with college degrees, including in things like law or engineering. And, once you get a few years in, you can actually make decent money: one guy I know who has been there 7-8 years makes about 70k a year with overtime. You actually end up working with some pretty good people, and there is opportunity to move up, especially if you have an advanced degree and the ability/desire to advance. In any case, its a whole lot better than sitting at home drawing unemployment. Not everyone is going to get to work their dream job, and eventually you have to make a decision on whats more important: waiting around for year for a tiny shot at getting a job in the field you studied for, or taking a job with pretty decent pay that will let you pay off your education debt and provide for yourself/your family.
In this specific case, it seems like a no-brainer. If you are in fact skilled and intelligent, take that factory job. In a few years you'll probably end up a foreman, supervisor, or manager. Again, as someone in a similar situation, it comes down to this: job>no job.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
For young people (those still looking for a mate, in particular), taking a factory job would be a big blow to their status, regardless of the level of pay. Better an unemployed white collar professional than an employed manufacturing worker, welder, or truck driver. It's similar in the US. Financially the median person is better off becoming a truck driver at 19 than pursuing a law degree (and racking up the associated debt), but being a trucker is really socially limiting. Likewise manufacturing in China, I expect.
"wrote memorization"
IT IS "ROTE," NOT "WROTE."
This is the second usage in this thread so far. Good grief.
If you are going to criticize the current education system, then use the correct terms.
The headlines you see about the horrible education system in U.S. are referring to K-12. (student age 6 - 17). When it comes to universities, U.S. is still the envy of much of the world. (else you wouldn't see the flood of Chinese and Korean students coming to American colleges)
In East Asian countries, kids are expected to study 20 hours a day to prepare themselves for the university entrance exam, which is extremely competitive. Getting into a top university sets you up for life. But once you actually get INTO a university, you don't need to study much at all. It's the exact opposite of U.S. where everything prior to college is a breeze, but you actually have to study and learn stuff to get your degree (at least if you're a STEM major)
I have a co-worker who graduated from a S. Korean university in 1997. He regales us with stories of how he drank and chased girls in college. Once he woke up on the day of a final exam with a hangover, realized he knew absolutely nothing about the topic, so he wrote a personal essay involving himself, the professor, national ethics, and how wants to thank the professor for his hard work which is benefiting mankind. He ended up getting a C and passed the course.