As a growing number of recruitment agencies hold job fairs in Shanghai, the Shanghai Personnel Bureau has introduced new regulations on the industry to "shut down illegal operators and encourage high quality job fairs as well as online job-hunting services."
Recruitment companies will now have to apply for a license before the middle of January in order to host a job fair next year.
To date, some 100 local agencies have submitted applications, but only 80 fairs will be allowed next year, bureau officials said Monday.
As the number of fairs increases rapidly, a growing number of job seekers are complaining that firms don't live up to their promises, often stating in ads that their fairs will include large, well-known firms, which then fail to show up.
According to the new regulations, only employment agencies with registered capital of at least 500,000 yuan (US$60,240) and no less than 10 human resources professionals on staff can hold the fair.
Advertisements must be approved before they are published and can not be changed after the approval.
The bureau is also considering preventing fair organizers from charging admission, said bureau official Xu Hui. Currently, fairs charge five to 10 yuan (US$1.21) admission.
Since 2001, the number of recruitment agencies in Shanghai has grown from 114 to 270 as the market has opened up and unemployment remains a concern.
(eastday.com December 31, 2002)
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