Yangtze BriefingShanghai graduates home in on opportunities in domestic services
More Shanghai degree holders look beyond the office for jobs amid a dearth of well-paid white-collar positions in the financial capital
Domestic helpers are paid more in Shanghai than other leading mainland cities, according to a new survey.
Almost a quarter - 24 per cent - of helpers in the city who live in their employer's home earn at least 4,000 yuan (HK$5,050) a month - compared with just 18 per cent in Beijing, and 1 per cent in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Increasingly, the job is appealing not only to women migrant workers but also to university students, with nearly one-fifth of 10,000 students polled in the four leading mainland cities saying they were willing to do such work part time or full time upon graduation.
This may relieve pressure on the government to provide jobs for graduates but it reflects Shanghai's faltering economic growth. More graduates are becoming domestic helpers as they struggle to find white-collar jobs.
More graduates are becoming domestic helpers as they struggle to find white-collar jobs
The city unveiled its ambition to become an international financial centre in 2007 but it is still struggling to generate enough jobs for young, well-educated talent.