The results of the year-end survey by the Beijing-based China Mainland Marketing Research Company, which polled more than 12,000 people in 31 municipalities, provincial and autonomous region capitals, were released last month. The survey indicated the importance of job stability increased more than 11 percentage points in 2002 over the previous year.

The percentage of survey respondents who gave priority to high salaries nosedived from 50.8 percent in 2001 to 38.5 percent last year.

The survey also found a matching growth in the number of respondents who gave priority to the social security package a job promised. Its importance increased from 15.8 percent in 2001 to 16.9 percent last year.

Good prospects for development still ranked third on the list of criteria for job-hunting, attracting particular attention from young respondents.

"China is experiencing a labor surplus and competition in the job market has become fiercer," said Zhou Jiang, general manager of the China Mainland Marketing Research Company.

Zhou said the survey results have revealed two "profound" psychological changes among job seekers.

"The market has become the most important factor affecting job-hunting for the general public, making people adopt a more pragmatic attitude," said Zhou. "Still, there is an increased sense of competition among the urban population -- they have a strong will to outdo others in the job market."

As the size of China's labor force grows, the public has increasingly felt the pressure of a strained job market. Statistics from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security indicate that the registered unemployment rate in cities and towns increased from 3.6 percent in 2001 to about 4 percent last year.

The actual figure of those without a stable job may be much higher because many laid-off workers are not included in the unemployed. In addition, about 12-13 million redundant rural laborers flow into the job market every year.

The survey also noted that the criteria in job-hunting can differ greatly among people from various backgrounds.

While the younger generation put "prospects for development" at the top of its list, their seniors paid much more attention to stability, according to the survey.

Women tended to value stability more than men -- a result Zhou attributed to the influence of stereotypes.

Men put "handsome salary" and "prospects for development" higher on their list.

The survey also found that the degree of importance attached to "stability" declined among respondents with advanced education, compared with those with only junior or senior high school education.

(China Daily February 13, 2003)