Baihe Shenghua Construction Tech employees and students from the Zhejiang Business Technology Institute examine an architectural drawing at a site in Zhejiang province.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Making connections

Yuan Zhongwei, chairman of the Zhejiang Human Resources Consulting Association, said his organization connects the government, businesses and the public to ensure that information about jobs is accessible to everyone, especially university students.

He said the association offers job seekers free lectures about employment law, which are held at the association's offices and can be booked online.

"We hold the lectures every Thursday and always include some practical examples. We hope that young people will gain some basic knowledge about the labor laws to protect themselves before entering the job market," he said.

In recent years, social organizations and industry associations have played an important role in promoting employment, especially by helping young people and college students land jobs.

These groups face a tough employment environment due to the growing number of graduates — roughly 11.60 million this year — and the unbalanced supply and demand in the job market.

According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, China had 892,316 registered social organizations by the end of last year, comprising 371,000 social societies, 512,000 social services organizations and 9,316 foundations.

About 90 percent of the organizations are managed by street or community offices, and they engage in charitable works such as community environment management, public security, nursing services and cultural entertainment.

Also, the number of registered industry associations nationwide has topped 110,000 and they have about 7.5 million member companies, the ministry said.

Chen Xiaoyong, deputy director of the ministry's Social Organization Management Bureau, told a recent conference that such bodies have close relations with the public, so they can offer services and provide guidance to young people with regard to employment and entrepreneurship.

These organizations and associations can also offer jobs and internships to college students, and encourage their member companies to offer work openings.

"By the end of last year, the 892,000-plus registered social organizations had offered over 11 million permanent jobs and attracted many flexible workers to charitable and voluntary programs," Chen Xiaoyong added.