Jobs like babysitters and tutors have become new choices for Chinese university graduates, as job vacancies become fewer amidst the current global financial crisis, the Yangcheng Evening News reports.

Undated picture shows university graduate Tan Xuemei, who now works as a babysitter for the Zhongjia Housekeeping Recruitment Agency in Shenzhen, southeast China's Guangdong Province. [Photo: Yangcheng Evening News]

Twenty-two year old Tan Xuemei graduated from Hunan University, one of China's top universities, last July. After majoring in computer science, Tan applied for a babysitting post in Shenzhen, in southeast China's Guangdong Province.

"I am not ashamed to be a university graduate working as a babysitter. I think everyone can distinguish themselves in any trade," said Tan.

Liu Xiaoli, a workmate of Tan, is from Yichun, Jiangxi province. The graduate of Nanchang University thought it was more stable to be a domestic helper than working in a factory.

"I worked as a quality controller in a Shenzhen-based company after my graduation. I quit the job because company itself was already in a bad situation."

Facing a grim employment outlook, more and more university students are following in the steps of Tan Xuemei and Liu Xiaoli.

According to statistics from a local housekeeping recruitment agency in Shenzhen, over 100 graduates have applied for jobs as domestic helpers through the agency.

"Despite the low income, the number of applicants keeps rising year on year. So far, eight percent of babysitters working for our company are university graduates, including master's students," said Ai Xiaoxiong, the human resources director of the Zhongjia Housekeeping Company in Shenzhen.

Sources say that most of the graduates work as both tutors and babysitters, while the salary ranges from 1,500 to 1,800 yuan per month.

According to published reports, there were almost 5.6 million university graduates in in 2008, and this year, the figure is expected to top 6 million.

To promote graduate employment amid an 'austere' employment situation, the State Council issued a circular last week, announcing fresh policies to help college graduates find jobs, including encouraging them to work in rural areas and in smaller firms, and giving financial support for start-ups of their own businesses.

(CRI February 20, 2009)