Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
Hello, welcome to Roundtable where we serve up piping hot debates on the issues that sizzle in China and beyond.
I'm Neo Honglin.
Every generation has its version of the first step into society.
For today's youth, that step often begins far from home, in cities where dreams are tall but rent can be even taller.
That's where youth hubs come in.
Now covering 200 cities and counting, these more than 2,600 hubs offer more than a roof.
There's also warmth, guidance, and the feeling that the city is rooting for you.
How are these Chinese cities meeting their newcomers halfway?
Let's discuss in today's show.
For today's show, I'm joined by Xing Yu and Steve Hatherly.
Now grab your virtual compass and follow us to the heart of the discussion.
Picture this a young graduate, suitcase in hand, standing at a city's train station, with both excitement and worry.
Sounds like the opening scene to a movie.
You can totally see people doing that.
They're in their dream city and they have big dreams, yet they do not know what to do, how to start.
And their interview is tomorrow, and the hotel prices are high, much higher than expected, and the future feels excited but also uncertain.
And then comes a message welcome to the youth hub, you can stay here for free, free guidance and maybe a new beginning.
And at that moment a bed becomes more than just a bed.
It's the first step toward belonging in a new city.
And the keyword here, the youth hub we're talking about here are happening in a lot of cities here in China.
So what exactly is a youth hub?
What can you expect in a youth hub? if you are getting ready to graduate.
Yeah, I think you can call it a youth hub or a youth hostel.
Because when I check some of the pictures online, you can see that the room settings.
They resemble a lot like hotels.
So it's actually a public welfare program For recent university graduates who are seeking jobs in cities outside their hometown.
And it's initiated by All China Youth Federation.
The youth hub, they offer free short-term accommodations ranging from three days to 15 days.
And they also offer guidance and training for your job seeking, as well as they also provide recruitment information.
And in terms of the bed, there's usually a bed. of course, and hot water, Wi-Fi, air conditioner.
So if you look at the pictures, some of them are built in a hotel.
So it's basically a hotel.
And some of them are hotel-like apartment.
And in some of the rooms, they offer bunk beds for more than just one person.
And it's been operated in many cities, including Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Shanghai.
Shenzhen, for instance, Shenzhen is one of the fastest growing cities in China.
And as early as 2014, the city has launched this pilot program.
And if you look at other cities, they have launched the same program in recent years.
So Shenzhen has made the first tryout.
And since then, the network has expanded to other districts.
So the first youth hub was created in Futian District.
And then, as it has expanded, so far 50 stations have been established citywide, covering every district.
And these youth hubs, they offer seven to 15 days of free stay.
And they offer services like job information, matching and assistance with pre-employment medical checkups.
And also job hunting, skills and trainings for interviews, and also support for your better integration to the city.
Yeah, it's a really good idea.
And it does take a lot of coordination.
But when well planned, things can go smoothly. really, really well.
There was a report from April from this year.
It was put out by the Ministry of Education and the Youth Federation together.
And the notice called for launching a special column on a platform aiming to provide employment service to university students and also CYLC students.
Affiliated online media to share related up-to-date information.
And what they did as well was they asked universities to include Youth Hub services in their graduate employment support packages, And that was important because it would ensure that students were fully informed about available benefits and also how to access them.
Because if the benefits are there and nobody knows about them, well then there's not much point of having them at all.
In this day and age, it's easy to imagine someone made their plans dig into all of the information they need in the area that they want to work in, but it's not everybody.
It's easy to have a plan about your job interview and or have a plan about your dream job and get the job interview and go to the city with all of the things that are fully prepared.
You can get the support from your family.
You have the money for the hotel.
That is the easy start.
But we have to admit, there are a lot of hard starting for people as well.
Sometimes it's because that is your dream job.
You know you're going to do that, but you do not really fully prepared.
Sometimes it can even be because that You are really into a certain company, yet you didn't have enough to start there.
And these kind of hubs would be able to give students or those who have just graduated a good starting point.
So who can actually apply, I was wondering?
Yeah, there are actually different requirements for different youth hubs in different cities.
In Shanghai, for instance, you have to be a recent graduate, or you have graduated within two years.
And also you have to provide proof of your interviews in the city or your job offerings or internships.
You have to prove that.
And also you are not a Shanghai local.
That means you don't own a Shanghai household or family within the city, or you don't have any residential property in the city.
Then you can apply for a three-day stay in the city, and one person can only apply for at most 15 days a year.
Yes, staying at the city, but that is for free.
You can still rent a room in these kind of hubs, continue to rent it with a still very much lower price compared to hotels and other type of accommodation, especially in cities like shanghai and beijing.
Yeah, and if you look at different cities Hangzhou they have similar rules as well.
Have your household registration from that area.
You can't have any self-owned housing in that area as well.
And it makes sense because these programs are for people who need to come from outside the area to stay for a period of time.
But when talking about how the process actually works.
So university graduates, after they finish their studies, they'll apply for jobs across different regions around the country and then they can check the application channels and the related policy information on the National University Student Employment Service platform and on other media platforms as well.
And then those interested can go to certain WeChat public accounts.
For example, there's a place called Xiaogan and if you are interested in going there, then there's a public account called Youth Xiaonan and you fill in the application form and then the district committee of the city of the Youth Federation will access the application and then issue a notice within three working days after they receive that application.
So It's really quick the process.
It's not like a job interview, though.
That's not what we mean by application.
You're not applying for something in that sense.
It's if you meet the criteria and if there's space available, then it's likely to be granted to you.
It's a universal phenomenon here in China, that is, a lot of people or a lot of departments offer and provide different types of services that you can apply for from your cell phone, from a mini app or on the internet.
It's quite convenient.
Recently, I've done something like this.
This sounds like a detour, but I applied for the child care subsidies.
Oh. before the kid turns three, you get a certain subsidy.
And all you need to do is put in all of the information required and someone I think it's the similar situation here in this process that is, someone would call you and confirm all of the information.
And if, for example, one paper is missing you didn't actually approve that, you are not a citizen of Shanghai they would ask you to submit that one piece of paper, and then that is the entirety of the application process, which is quite convenient.
Yes, I wish I had such a preferential policy back when I just graduated from college.
I remember back then, I think after my undergraduate program, I actually smoothly got recruited by a company in Beijing.
So I didn't have to spend some time in the in inside Beijing while renting a room.
So after I got a job, I have rented a room.
So but after then I had a master program in the UK.
And then when I was back To my hometown.
I stayed there for like a couple of months.
I was very lost.
I didn't know what to do.
I didn't know where my future direction goes.
So and then I came to Beijing again.
So at that point I had to pay for the rent myself around 2000 yuan per month while I was looking for a job.
So that also took like several months before I got recruited by CGTN.
So yeah, back then I didn't have any support, I guess, or I didn't know.
At least I felt like I was doing everything all by myself.
Yes, and also support from my family.
These programs open doors for young job seekers.
They open doors in different parts of the country that might not even be considered before.
Because for you, you said well, you had to come and you had to spend your own money out of your own pocket.
But for many people, that's not an option.
That's not something that they can afford just having graduated from university.
So, again, you know.
People might have said oh, I wouldn't even consider looking for something in Beijing because well, I'd have to go there, I'd have to get there by myself and I'd have to pay for accommodations, and then there's no guarantee of looking for work.
And I think we have some statistics to back up.
That concept a little bit later.
But yeah, it would close the door on a lot of different regions for young people.
But with these options, it's a really good thing.
Here's a couple more examples just before we move on.
In Shanghai, if you are looking for a job there, then again, they use a WeChat public account.
It's Shanghai1235.com.
One, two, three, five, five.
You can apply for the service there.
And then they get the specific information on all the youth hubs within Shanghai.
Same as your process.
You upload all the personal information and then you get interview notices after selecting a certain hub.
And then it's the same thing in Hangzhou that you can apply via the WeChat mini program.
It's called Talent Hangzhou there.
And all you need to do there is to upload materials like your ID card photo or your student ID card photo, as well as the other job application materials.
And let's say you are already very successfully got into these places.
You have a around three to six day free of charge stay.
If you're really, really, really lucky, you can land on a job already in that one week.
But if you're not, you can still pay for a again substantially less cheaper amount of rent compared to stay in a hotel and you start to look for a job and, unlike Xinyu, who has to do it all by herself, you can have enjoy some of the services in these kind of youth hubs, because free or very cheap accommodation is not the only thing they provide.
Yeah.
And when talking about what opportunities this provides for young people.
I mentioned that there were some statistics.
I'd like to share those now.
There was a survey conducted in 2017 on job hunting costs.
It was published by the University Graduate Job Seeking Branch of Recruitment Portal, 51 Job, and this is what they found nearly one-third up close to 5000 soon to be graduates at that time said that they would give up out-of-town interview opportunities due to high intercity travel costs.
165.
Almost 17 had not even considered seeking jobs in other cities at all, let alone paying for the accommodation costs.
That's what I was talking about before.
When you think, I have to pay for these things, no, I'm not even...
It's super far away from where I am.
I have to pay for a hotel.
I have to pay to get there.
That takes it off the option list.
Yeah.
So it's like before you were making any money, but you already have spent a lot on the expenses of traveling and accommodation.
But I have to mention that these youth hubs, they offer free accommodation, but you still need to pay the utilities water and electricity and also some of the youth hostels that i've checked, they also require a deposit of several hundred yuan before yeah, while you stay, which is not bad at all if you really think about it makes sense.
Yes yeah, but yeah.
Besides that, we talked about the kind of services they're providing.
For example, in Hangzhou, they provide different types of services that help young people to feel welcome in these cities.
That includes the services that take you to get familiar with the city a bit faster. faster.
And it also includes the kind of information about the job market here in the city.
For example in Hangzhou, once you get into one of the youth hubs, people would send traffic guidance.
Weather updates in the city of Hangzhou.
And does person also provide 24-hour counseling services, ready to answer questions about the type of, for example, the meeting or the job hunting fairs that you would like to attend?
There is a community canteen nearby offering food at a discounted price.
If you live in the youth hub, they pair up with these kind of canteens so you can enjoy a discount and, with no need to worry about food or accommodation, people would be able to entirely focus on preparing for interview, for example, or looking for more opportunities.
Yeah, you don't have to worry about those other things.
Yeah, so it's not just the room provided.
There's lots of other support and assistance.
Yes, so that you can focus on your job interview, but also just to have you ease into the city.
Traffic guidance and weather updates?
I mean, that's pretty top quality service right there.
Yes.
And especially for a fresh graduate working in another city.
I think these services are already giving a very welcoming message to those young talents.
So for the cities themselves, they can actually, Through these strategies, they can actually retain the talents to keep them inside the city and work for the city and also get the city better.
So that's also another benefit.
Making a good impression.
Yes.
That's a good point.
For many of these young students traveling to that city, that might be the first time.
Remember how big China is.
That might be the first time they're actually going to that city.
So imagine how intimidating that whole process would be.
You're already nervous because you're going to a job interview in a place that you've never been before.
You don't know this street from that street.
You don't know where the subway exits are.
You don't know anything.
But you have this service provided, where they're there to answer your questions, any questions that you might have.
And apparently whether you will need an umbrella or not.
Once I know that there are already more than 2,600 of these hubs, I was quite impressed.
And to be honest, maybe it's because I'm not a young person and the information is not targeting me.
But I was a bit curious to know what are people doing?
It must be a collective effort.
You need to let people know these hubs exist.
You need to let whoever's providing the financial support for these hubs to know that their money goes into the right place.
These hubs are actually helping people.
There are positive results and you need to constantly improve the quality of services and the quality of the air conditioner in these hubs.
So all these needs to be done.
And how are this very sounds delicate to mechanism work?
Yeah, I think not just universities, but also organizations across China.
They are working together and they also play an important role in managing these hubs for universities.
I think many of the universities in China.
They have included informing students or the graduates about these youth hubs through their employment guidance classes.
So before their graduation, they're already equipped.
With this knowledge or they at least they know about there's the option.
Yeah, there's an option for them not just free accommodation, but also job seeking guidance and trainings as well.
And also these local youth federation, they have also been upgrading their services as well.
Like in the city of Chengdu, some of the youth hubs, they are located just near the industrial parks or areas where talents they gather. the locations, how they select locations are very much well planned.
And also in the cities like Weifang as well.
They have over 300 hotels citywide, but there's a process of refined selection process, with more than 40 well-located, fully equipped hotels being selected to host these young talents, and also over 70 additional hotels designated as backup options.
Yeah, I mean, it makes sense.
You don't want to build the hub out in the middle of nowhere, pardon me, where it takes uh, two hours to get into the city.
So that's, that's.
Um, i guess, considering the students, that's a good idea to have it in places where it's convenient to get to the places where they will be job interviewing.
We talked about this before.
That is, a lot of cities here in China are making themselves or building themselves into youth-friendly cities.
They have different types of policies.
And the youth hub one is Just one example.
And this particular type of youth hub we're talking about is for those to get a good start in a city.
There are other ones, for instance in, for I think in different parts of the country There are different types of youth hub, not only targeting those fresh graduates, but also those who want to take a pause in their life.
They have worked for a while.
Yes, a gap year.
Yet it's not only to find what they want to do next, but also to enjoy life a little, or to think about whether or not they want to change gears, whether or not they want to start a new type of life.
And even for those who are currently still working yet want to be in a community of similar type of like-minded people.
There are these kind of youth accommodation as well.
Some are supported by the local government.
Some are even initiated and entirely run by private companies.
And these kind of youth accommodations.
For example, there is this one in Yunnan province and in this particular I think it's a type of a residential community with only one building.
They only allow people who are under the age of 45 and also older, above the age of 20.
And they have to have working experience to live in these kind of accommodation.
It's relatively cheap.
But the biggest selling point, or the major attraction, is that living in these kind of places, you you are with the kind of people you can play together.
Not only you live together, or in the sense that in the same building.
And I've watched this one video of this young girl saying she newly moved into one of these kind of accommodations and When she joined the WeChat group, people in the WeChat group started to say I live in, for example, 301 and I have cooked, I have baked a huge cake, cake.
I cannot finish it by myself.
So whoever's interesting, you can come over, knock on the door, but make sure you bring your own plate and I will share some.
What happened in that video is that the girl never made it back to her own room.
She is on her way collecting food the entire journey.
She got cake, she got pork, she got...
A bowl of soup.
And she was very happy living in these kind of places.
And some of the places would even organize the kind of bonfire party during nighttime, reading club during nighttime.
And you can in these places not only enjoy a relatively cheaper accommodation, but the company and the opportunity to make new friends.
So what's the... stipulation then?
Do you have to be looking for a job at that time?
No, no, no.
Because this one is personally run and the idea is that This person or this company want young people to be able to enjoy life the way they want.
So there are the kind of facilities, the kind of youth hubs that are helping you to work hard to find a job, to find your dream career.
But there are also the kind of youth facilities or youth hubs that are helping you to slow down, to enjoy life.
This is interesting.
You know, I was looking at Canada, where I'm from, to see if we have similar services available.
And we do in Canada have youth employment services, but they're strictly focused on helping young people prepare their resumes, job interview skills.
Things like that.
We don't have things, as far as I could find, like these types of hubs where you can travel to a different city for free for a few days while you prepare for a job interview in that location.
And I was just thinking, if Canada had these types of things, I wonder if we'd see a lot of cross-border work opportunities.
And by cross-border, I mean province to province, not between Canada and America.
When I was graduating from university...
Yeah, my university and a lot of universities in Canada and America and here in China too and everywhere, probably have these kind of preparation services available for young people who are about to graduate, but there's nothing like this.
The only thing that stood out to me that was kind of special in Canada is that they have mental health services available for young students who are preparing to get into the workforce, because it can be a very stressful time if you can't find work right away.
Right, you can give up.
Um, you make you want to give up, so i thought that was kind of a cool thing.
Yeah, and also i um checked beijing's changping district.
Uh, the district also offers youth hubs, but What stood out to me was that they have this program for those young talents who want to start a business in the district.
And the district offers up to three months free accommodation for those.
Three months?
Yeah, three months.
So that's pretty good.
I think, amazing and also offer a very friendly environment for them to actually start their entrepreneurship.
We've talked about this on Roundtable.
In many places, in many different cities, there are also the kind of incubation base for young people.
If you want to start a business, you can rent an office in relatively lower price and you would have guidance and even training there, sessions you can attend in these kind of centers.
And this April we see the country has rolled out other encouraging policies, including encouraging students to start a business, encouraging them to work in different positions.
And what I want to say about this is that not only are these policies helping students, helping young people to get their well, get their good start and get their new life started.
It's also helping different companies in different cities, because if you can have the talent, stay in your city, there's no Long term.
Yeah, no problem that your city would have a prosperous future.
And that is why, in the policy we mentioned, the April one, there are also different types of preferential policies supporting the kind of job positions in cities, remote areas, in relatively under well, not that developed counties, as well as villages, allowing young people to probably find your dream job there.
That close coordination is important to make it as efficient, the process as efficient as possible.
And what they're looking at doing is expanding further the pool of entrepreneurship and employment mentors which I think is a great idea to provide young people with really even more practical guidance than they're getting already.
Now we know a lot about these youth hubs.
Any suggestions, anything that you think they can do to even further improve their services and their help to or for the young people.
Yeah, I think, especially during the graduation season, like this year.
China has over 12 million graduates this year.
And especially during the peak season, these youth hubs, they're in high demand.
And some of the rooms, you just cannot book.
And some of the off-peak seasons, then the rooms can be empty.
So we need a more flexible system. like room arrangement and room supply, I guess, in this sense.
Yeah, Hongjo is doing that right now, actually.
It's exactly what you said.
During the peak season.
The city is expanding their hub accommodation supply through a lot of different channels.
And then in off-peak period some of the hubs extend the allowable stay duration and also moderately kind of relax the application requirements.
And that helps to broaden the range of eligible applicants.
So that's one of the solutions to that potential problem.
Yes, and probably we can have the youth hub, helping or encouraging social and enterprise co-participation, trying to bring the young people directly to the doors, to the entrance of more companies.
That might be another thing that they can do.
And in the story of modernization, cities often chase speed and growth, But perhaps true progress is measured by how gently a city catches those arriving for the first time.
