Survey: 60% youth vocationally affected amid Covid-19

A survey has revealed that 60% of local youths have faced unemployment or involuntary job changes during the two and a half years of Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey was conducted between mid-May and early June by Sin Meng Charity Association, led by businesswoman Melinda Chan. A total of 1,024 valid questionnaires were received, in addition to focus dialogs conducted with 100 youths. The youths were aged between 21 and 45 years.

It was reported that there were several major reasons behind the involuntary job changes. Nearly half of the respondents reported the cause as economic deterioration, while 45% as unclear industry or career prospects. Slightly below 40% of respondents were either laid off or have faced the closure of their former employer. Nearly 67% of respondents were seeing a mismatch between their educational backgrounds and their current jobs.

The survey also pointed out that due to a rising unemployment rate, it was even more difficult for fresh university graduates to find jobs that matched their educational backgrounds.

Furthermore, the survey also showed that 45% of the respondents were not familiar with the policy of neighboring Hengqin subsidizing employment. Additionally, they were not familiar with the employment market in Hengqin either.

It was also disclosed that the working cohort of respondents were more familiar with Hengqin policies than fresh graduates, with 66.5% for the former and 33.5% the latter.

Less than half of the respondents showed a desire or willingness to work in Hengqin or other parts of the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The three main factors that encouraged them to pursue a career across the border were development prospects, satisfactory salary levels and availability of subsidies, amounting respectively to 49.2%, 39.6% and 34.6%.

The most popular ideal range of salary fell between MOP12,000 and MOP18,000. Nearly two-thirds of those impacted by Covid-19 in terms of employment requested at least MOP20,000 per month before they would commit to working in Hengqin.

In response to the findings, the association made several suggestions to the government, schools and other non-governmental organizations.

The government was asked to consolidate and provide clearer information about Hengqin, while improving channels that help disseminate employment data from within the GBA.

It was suggested that schools help students start focused career planning early. As for other organizations, the association suggested they gather youths to experience life and lifestyles in Hengqin.