Currently, some middle and low-skilled laborers are being laid off at troubled export-oriented enterprises. Yin believes this is a regional phenomenon.

"The seriousness of the employment situation must be judged by the depth of the global financial crisis and its damage to the real economy," he said.

Yin Zhongli, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Beijing Review that the country's deteriorating export situation plus slack domestic demand would reduce general consumer demand for products and lead to a reduced need for laborers.

"Apparently, the future employment situation is not optimistic, and promoting employment must become one of the top priorities for the central and local governments," he said.

Other employment conundrums

In addition to the impact from the U.S. financial crisis, domestic employment problems are still paramount. Hu Angang, an economics professor at Tsinghua University, told Beijing Review that no other country has to provide more than 700 million jobs as does China. He said China faces the most difficult employment predicament in the world.

Hu said that China provides 26 percent of jobs globally on the basis of 9.6-percent natural resources, 9.4-percent capital resources, 1.85-percent intellectual technology resources, and 1.83 percent international resources. Providing such a high number of jobs is an arduous task for the government, he added.

Hu also said an excessive labor supply is the biggest problem for the country's current and future employment situations. In the next five years, about 50 million new labors will enter the job market, while the number of newly added job vacancies will remain at about 40 million, creating a deficiency of 10 million.

Hu pointed out several inherent conflicts in the country's labor market. While a large number of people would be laid off in traditional industries in the near future, there would be far less demand for highly educated professionals trained for emerging industries and new hi-tech sectors.

"China does not lack laborers, but has a serious shortage of industry professionals," Hu said, calling on the government to invest more in training skilled workers and professionals.

Currently, there are also structural problems in China's job training patterns, Hu said. A large number of vocational schools and colleges are focusing mainly on training workers for low-skilled jobs such as operating assembly lines, but they have ignored the importance of highly skilled workers. In addition, some universities have started offering MBA courses for company managers to train them for senior management positions. Quite a few private training institutes are lobbying companies to provide professional training services to their managers. But many provide substandard training, because they are only eager to make a profit, Hu said.

Creating a fair employment environment for urban residents and migrant workers from rural areas is a big challenge for the government, said Li Zhuobin, a member of the Standing Committee of National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, in a panel discussion at a meeting on September 2.

Policies that do not allow farmers to take jobs in cities also affect fair competition in the job market, Li said. For instance, some companies refuse to employ workers with a rural hukou, the household registration record. In addition, migrant workers are paid less than workers who have an urban hukou even if they are doing the same job. The situation occurs more frequently in the construction industry where migrant workers receive wages and benefits that are only two thirds or even half of those received by urban workers. Moreover, migrant workers usually do not receive their salaries on time.

Policy readjustment

Yin Chengji said at the October 27 press conference that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security would adopt six measures to boost employment.