The findings of a survey released yesterday show that 95 percent of the recent and upcoming graduates from Macau’s tertiary education institutions think that it is more difficult now to find a job than before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted Macau’s economy since early 2020.
The survey was carried out by the Macau New Chinese Youth Association (known as San Ching Hip in Cantonese).
Four San Ching Hip representatives announced the survey’s findings during a press conference at one of the association’s offices, in an industrial building near Fai Chi Kei.
According to the representatives, 358 local residents who graduated from local higher education institutions in 2020 and last year or will graduate later this year responded to the survey, which was carried out online in the second half of last month.
According to the findings, around 55 percent of the respondents who planned to work in Macau said that they could only find a “satisfactory” job at least six months after their graduation.
The findings show that 72 percent of the respondents said they thought that the biggest challenge for recent and upcoming graduates to join the job market was that the number of job vacancies available in the market was insufficient to meet demand, while 66 percent of them said that the biggest challenge was that there were no job vacancies suitable for them in the job market.
The findings also show that less than 30 percent of the respondents said that they had used employment support services provided by the government and community associations.
According to the findings, 35 percent of the respondents said that they were “not optimistic at all” about the city’s employment prospects amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while only around three percent of them said that they were optimistic.
The findings show that 87 percent of the respondents said they want the government to set up an online platform specifically supporting young people in their employment needs.
The representatives suggested that the local government set up a “one-stop” youth employment service platform, similar to the mainland’s national employment support platform for university graduates, which was set up earlier this year. The platform, which was set up by the Ministry of Education, is officially known as 24365 University Graduates Employment Services Platform. The “24365” indicates its 24/7 operation.
The representatives urged the government to roll out a “combination” of measures to provide “strong support” for young people to find a job.
This photo provided by the Macau New Chinese Youth Association shows its representatives presenting the findings of a survey about recent and upcoming college graduates’ employment during yesterday’s press conference.
