Unemployed college graduates who hold a Beijing hukou or permanent residence permit will receive at least one job offer by suitable employers in the coming month amid the global economic slowdown, the municipal bureau of personnel said yesterday.

Job seekers will have to register at related departments in Beijing's 18 districts and counties, who will match them with employers, Lu Lin, director of the bureau's college graduate employment department, told a work conference.

At least 210,000 local college graduates are expected to enter the job market this year, 14,000 more than last year, figures from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission show. Of these, more than 90,000 will hold the Beijing hukou.

Related government departments should also step up measures to encourage enterprises to recruit more college graduates, Lu added.

"If the district or county does not have a suitable position to match the graduates, the authorities should recommend the graduates to other districts or counties," the official said.

Authorities will also provide career counseling and training for the graduates, with additional support given to those with physical disabilities or those majoring in subjects considered less popular with employers, said Lu.

Beijing authorities will offer 80,000 job vacancies for graduates through 150 career fairs in the next month, the bureau said yesterday.

College graduates can log on to zhaopin.bjrc.com for details of the career fairs or go to www.bjbys.com for information on vacancies offered by employers.

On Saturday, the commission said Beijing will hire college graduates as community assistants starting this year to encourage them to work at the grassroot level.

College students in Beijing who are slated to graduate in July welcomed the latest efforts to boost employment.

Dong Bo, a 22-year-old student at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, said he would take a position regardless of the type of job offered.

"The offers could not possibly be too terrible to accept," Dong told China Daily.

"For most of us who have little or no job experience, we will cherish all job opportunities to learn and to improve. If the offer later proves unsuitable for me, I will just give it up and try a new one," he said.

Fellow student Zhao Kai, 22, agreed.

"Finding suitable work is the greatest worry for college students graduating soon. Whatever policies introduced now to encourage employment will give us new courage," Zhao said.

(China Daily February 18, 2009)