International

Skilled labor drawing more young people

Incentives to enroll in vocational schools help drive interest as shortage continues

Incentives to enroll in vocational schools help drive interest as shortage continues

Bolstered by official policy support, many young people in China are striving to become skilled professional workers as the manufacturing industry plays an increasingly important role in the nation’s quality-oriented development.

A recent survey by Zhaopin, an online recruitment platform, shows that job offerings in the high-tech manufacturing sector rose by 28.2 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year－much higher than the average growth of vacancies in other sectors, which rose roughly 8.4 percent over the period.

Workers who are skilled in industrial automation, electric equipment production and general equipment production are in high demand, according to the survey. For example, more than 50 percent of electric equipment production job vacancies are open to skilled workers.

However, the manufacturing sector is still grappling with labor shortages, especially for workers at the master level. The latest figures from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security show that China has over 200 million skilled workers, roughly 26 percent of the total labor force, and about 50 million of those skilled workers are certified with master status.

To help relieve the shortages, central departments have made continuous efforts to incentivize more people to take up vocational studies in the past few years.

In late May, the ministry released a notice about a plan for vocational schools to recruit 1.4 million students and train them in accordance with the practical needs of companies and the nation’s economic development.

Compared with vocational schools guided by the Ministry of Education, which is academic-driven and steers students toward earning education degrees after graduation, the vocational schools administered by the human resources ministry focus on developing students’ work skills, and upon graduating they receive certificates related to those skills.

According to the ministry’s notice, vocational schools are encouraged to team up with companies and employers to provide high-quality education and training to students.

Students from key areas, including those who have benefited from the nation’s rural vitalization campaign, can take advantage of preferential policies such as prioritized school registration, the notice said.

Peng Weihua, vice-dean of Yunnan Technician College in Southwest China’s Yunnan province, said that vocational graduates have better employment prospects than college students, as their future plans for employment are more clear.

“Vocational students know that they will become skilled workers through training and education at school, so they can make their career plans before graduating,” he said. “Also, the schools set up training plans in accordance with companies’ needs to help students get easier access to job opportunities.”

Peng said that the huge number of college graduates this year－about 10.76 million－puts pressure on the job market, but skilled vocational school graduates will find more opportunities.

“China still has a great demand for skilled workers, actually. It’s time to change the traditional mindset that being a researcher or manager is superior to being a skilled worker,” he said.

According to Peng, graduates from his college have enjoyed an employment rate of around 98 percent over the past three years.

“The average monthly salary for our graduates in Yunnan is about 5,673 yuan ($848). This is much higher than the average salary of other graduates in the province, who take in about 2,500 yuan per month.”

Thanks to the government’s preferential policy in securing jobs for vocational school graduates, more provinces and cities are exploring new ways to land these skilled workers.

Beijing recently released a plan to allow vocational school graduates to participate in the civil servant examination for the first time, which also encourages administrative fields to hire skilled workers.

International

10 % ON EXPORTS TO US

US President Donald Trump says it’s Liberation Day in America as he announced his sweeping new tariffs. The new measures took effect at midnight. Since taking office in January, Trump has imposed several of the measures.

US President Donald Trump has announced a 10 percent universal tariff on all imports into the country. This includes Barbadian exports to the American market. According to Mr. Trump, the tariff is in retaliation for the 10 per cent tariff now charged by Jamaica on U.S. imports.

The tariff means American consumers are likely to see an increase in the price of Jamaican goods sold on the U.S. market.

St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Belize, Suriname, St. Kitts and Antigua are among the Caribbean countries that will also see a 10% tariff applied to their exports.

Nearly 60 countries across the world have been hit with tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to as high as 49 per cent. China, countries in the European Union, Taiwan and Vietnam are among the hardest hit. It’s one of the most sweeping impositions of tariffs in U.S. history.

Trump says the tariffs are aimed at protecting American markets from unfair global trade practices. He’s projecting a resurgence in American manufacturing as a result of the sweeping tariffs.

International

China’s Xi Jinping tells top global CEOs to use their influence to defend trade

Gathering of senior business leaders in Beijing comes amid rising tensions with US

Xi Jinping has urged global business leaders to work together to protect supply chains at a meeting with a group of executives including Rajesh Subramaniam of FedEx, Ola Källenius of Mercedes-Benz and Georges Elhedery of HSBC.

Amid a deepening trade war with the US, the Chinese leader told the group of more than 40 business leaders, which also included Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, Miguel Ángel López Borrego of Thyssenkrupp and Amin Nasser of Saudi Aramco, that foreign business leaders should resist behaviours that “turn back the clock” on history.

“We hope everyone can take a broad and long-term view . . . and not blindly follow actions that disrupt the security and stability of global industrial chains and supply chains, but instead contribute more positive energy and certainty to global development,” Xi told the gathering in Beijing on Friday.

The event at the Great Hall of the People marked the second consecutive year that Xi held a carefully staged meeting with foreign chief executives in the Chinese capital. Last year’s event was held exclusively with US business leaders.

The meeting came at the conclusion of a busy week for Chinese policymakers, who are trying to strengthen relations with international business amid rising tensions with US President Donald Trump’s administration.

China’s premier annual CEO conference, the China Development Forum, was held in Beijing this week, followed by the Boao Forum for Asia in the tropical resort island of Hainan. Beijing is seeking to promote itself as a bastion of stability in global trade in contrast to the US, where Trump has launched successive waves of tariffs on products from aluminium to cars. The president has vowed widespread, reciprocal duties on US trading partners on April 2, threatening further disruption to international trade.

“A few countries are building ‘small yards with high walls’, setting up tariff barriers, and politicising, instrumentalising, weaponising, and over-securitising economic and trade issues,” said Xi, who was accompanied by his foreign, commerce and finance ministers.

He said these actions were forcing companies “to take sides and make choices that go against economic principles”. “This runs counter to the overarching trend of open markets,” he said. He added that foreign enterprises, especially multinational corporations, had “considerable international influence”.

“We hope everyone will . . . resist regressive moves that turn back the clock,” Xi said. “Together, we must safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains. “Decoupling and severing ties harms others without benefiting oneself; it leads nowhere.”

International

US to Negotiate with Regional Governments on Hiring of Cuban Doctors

US special envoy to the Caribbean and Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, says the United States intends to negotiate a mechanism with Caribbean governments regarding the hiring of Cuban doctors.

The US has threatened visa restrictions for nations who benefit from Cuban medical missions. They deem the programme as a form of forced labour and trafficking on the part of the Cuban government.

Several countries in the Caribbean rely heavily on Cuban medical missions to supplement local staff.

The special envoy says the US wants a united voice against human trafficking, in favour of international labour laws. He says they look forward to reaching a deal that allows Caribbean governments to directly hire Cuban doctors.