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Graduates have difficulty landing jobs, survey says

College graduates are finding it more difficult to land jobs than they had imagined and are ending up pursuing further education or preparing for civil service exams rather than entering the job market, a job information magazine reported yesterday.

Chang Sheng-yuan (臧聲遠), editor-in-chief of Career magazine, said that according to a survey conducted by the magazine, 80 percent of college graduates questioned said they had difficulty landing jobs and that they put off the pressure to find work by pursuing advanced studies at home or abroad or preparing for civil service or other professional examinations.

If this group of graduates were counted, the actual jobless rate among college graduates would be higher than the published figures, he said.

Chang said that many college graduates "look like they have jobs," but do not have full-time jobs. They often receive a monthly salary of less than NT$12,000 because they cannot find full-time employment, or they have to scrape by working at home on short term projects, selling items on the Internet or doing odd-jobs.

"Their income is not even on a par with the minimum wage of NT$15,840 for foreign laborers," he said.

The pace of "non-traditional hiring" has quickened and the number of full-time jobs is falling, Chang said.

Chang said government statistics show that the number of hourly wage earners increased dramatically to 180,000 last year from 70,000 the year before and that they received on average only NT$14,700 per month.

The number of dispatch or hourly paid jobs has increased dramatically as employers try to save costs, Chang said.

Chang said companies are in need of high-end elite workers and low-end laborers, and have no need for mid-level talent.

Preparatory programs to nurture future executives have extended to all sectors and trades, Chang said, adding that bosses are looking to establish high-quality successor teams through rigorous screening and training programs.

He said these "para" executives often get promoted 10 years to 20 years ahead of regular staff.
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