Tight job market forces governments to provide more opportunities

In a sign of tough economic times, recent graduates with no work experience will be permitted to apply for China-based Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees. Typically, MBA programs have been restricted to applicants with at least two or three years’ work experience.**

According to Xinhua, China’s Ministry of Education will fund a further 6,000 MBA places this year. This funding adds to a recent government announcement of 50,000 extra postgraduate places across the fields of Business, Engineering, Law, and Accounting.

Around the country, provincial governments are providing other opportunities for graduates during the current economic downturn.

Shanghai Morning Post reported on Shanghai’s plans to coordinate 4000 half-year work placements for graduates. The city is also building a team to coach and advise graduates in the establishment of their own businesses. Xinhua highlighted Nanjing’s novel plan to train and place 6000 graduates as officials within rural villages starting in March. Shenyang, meanwhile,  has developed a so-called “6+1″ service which provides students with six targeted training and career information sources, in addition to a consulting and assessment system.

With increasing job losses threatening social stability, we expect national, provincial and district governments to offer more opportunities to up-skill and re-train the hundreds of thousands of people expected to become cyclically unemployed. This environment invariably translates into opportunities for experienced educators and coaches, reputable training providers, and established institutions.

Contact us with your queries or ideas for further investigation.

** The Ministry of Education released a statement on 2009-02-27 correcting previous reports that graduates with no work experience would be permitted to apply for MBA courses. A minimum of three years’ work experience will still be required to gain entry to MBA programs.