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New college grads face uphill battle in finding employment

A new poll indicates that the nation's jobless rate of 5 percent could be due more to young jobseekers' attitudes than a slowing economy.

The poll of 92,152 college graduates, conducted by online job bank www.9999.com.tw (汎亞人力銀行) between Aug. 3 and last Thursday, showed that 68 percent of graduates are unemployed.

"The jobless rate of college graduates is at a record high," Yang Ken-cheng (楊肯誠), chief operating officer of the job bank, told a news conference yesterday.

"The figure will continue to climb following the addition of high-school students who join the job market later this month instead of entering vocational colleges," Yang said.

Companies prefer to hire job applicants with work experience to save on personnel training costs, Yang said.

One employer admitted that most companies choose experienced workers over inexperienced ones, but he said college graduates must bear the blame.

"College graduates need further training before they can fully reach companies' requirements," said Alex Tsai (蔡振豪), president of E-Life Mall Co (全國電子), an electric-appliance chain.

"Aside from what they've learned from textbooks, college students should learn more skills to sharpen their [competitive] edge when seeking a job after graduating," Tsai said.

The passive attitude and frequent job-hopping also contributes to employers's reluctance to hire young people, he said.

One new college graduate, however, rejected the stereotype of young jobseekers and blamed media reports that constantly accentuate the fragility of the younger generation, saying they are unable to bear the pressure and hardship of work.

"Those kind of reports will kill off our job opportunities," said Chou Chia-jou (周嘉柔), a journalism major who was graduated from the Hsinchu-based Hsuan Chuang University in June.

After sending out over 100 resumes since graduation, the 22-year-old Chou said she has been offered only four interviews so far.

According to the poll, 44 percent of respondents said they were unemployed because they have not found their ideal job, 41.91 percent said they failed to secure a job because they did not have adequate professional skills and 37.74 percent said that their majors did not cater to the needs of the job market.

Another recent graduate, however, said higher education does not prepare a person for the job market.

"I don't know what I can do," said Chen Yi-chi (陳逸綺), who was graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University in June. "There are not many jobs for

social-work majors out there."

Tseng Pi-yuan (曾碧淵), deputy director of the National Youth Commission said a series of vocational training programs may help alleviate the problem.

The government is organizing a program which will seek help from companies in training young job seekers, Tseng said.

The program is scheduled to begin in November. There is, however, no guarantee of employment for people who take part in the program.
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