On The Employment Adaptability Of The Urban New Unemployment Population In The Post-unit Society

The new unemployment population (NUP) is a group of people newly emerged as a result of Chinese social transformation and as a source and carrier of many social problems. Initially their external feature is unemployment but essentially inadaptability to employment. This study is based on the investigation of City C in the Northeastern old industrial bases, with 63 case studies including 50 of new unemployment population and 13 of other kind. The new unemployment population has the following three characteristics. First, their parents are work unit people under the influence of the unit system; second, they mainly receive the examination-oriented education; third, their cultural background is of subculture under the unit system. Three key problems are discussed in this dissertation, namely, the relationship between employment adaptability of the NUP and the unit society, the relationship between employment identity and the social structure reform, and the relationship between the employment adaptability and transformation of government functions after marketization. There are altogether six chapters, as follows.Chapter one is introduction, mainly giving the outline of this research. Firstly, it is proposed that the new unemployment population has emerged in the process of social transformation from the unit system to post-unit system. The analysis on its production mechanism is based on the social structure of the industrial old bases in the northeast of China. Secondly, a further discussion is made on the origin of the NUP with the following two as its focus, that is, the obstacles that they will meet when seeking employment and the reasons behind which some of them will choose to be initiatively unemployed. Lastly, the employment adaptability and professional identity are explicitly analyzed.Chapter two is literature review, focusing on three problems, namely, the academic definition of the NUP, the relevant studies on employment adaptability, professionalism and professional identity. Based on the review of academic researches, this dissertation holds the following views as follows: Firstly, the focus was previously on the unemployed population laid off the stated-owned and collective enterprises, as is commonly called"the old unemployment population". Comparatively speaking, the researches on the NUP are rather few, and some are repeated. Secondly, as the problem of unemployment studies abroad has a comparatively longer history and relatively more literature than at home in China, many domestic research has been concentrated on the mechanic introduction and uncritical application of unemployment and anti-unemployment theories abroad. Owing to the different historical, economic, and social standpoints for analysis, these studies abroad inevitably fail to offer a satisfactory solution to the specific problems in China. Thirdly, as for the causes of unemployment in China, opinions vary. Especially, many of its analyses are somewhat superficial. Fourthly, researches on the new unemployment population are still on their early beginning stage, basically following up the theoretical framework of old unemployment community. Their focus is mainly on their living conditions, causes, characteristics, and solutions, but not from the theoretical perspective. Fifthly, the above-mentioned previous researches regard the new unemployment population as a universally existing group, neglecting its regional differences. Sixthly, the following research is greatly inspired by Sun Liping, who attaches great importance to social and institutional factors in his analysis of new unemployment population.Academically speaking, dramatic progress has been made on the research on employment adaptability from psychological , sociological and anthropological perspective. However, the subjects of social adjustment studies have always been limited to college graduates,immigrants, rural migrant workers, youth group, landless peasants in the process of urbanization, and the ageing population. Most of them are faced with tremendous changes in the environment for their growth and development,which involve the readjustment and re-adaptability of their own behaviors so as to reach balanced harmony with the new environment.Therefore , it is necessarily important to conduct the research in this respect. With the social changes, the subjects of social adaptability studies should be constantly expanded. The new unemployment population in the northeastern area is a newly emerged group with the social change and structural transformation, who are also confronted with the great changes in living environment. They are necessarily of our concern from the perspective of social adaptability.As to professionalism and identity, this dissertation holds that the relevant theoretical studies both at home and abroad have been developed on a relatively comprehensive and systematic level, especially in the individual identity and social identity. Either from a psychological or sociological perspective, the academic researches have been macro-theoretically applied to the interpretation and analysis of some specific issues. In this case, it not only provides a good theoretical basis for our analysis on the identity features of new unemployment population, but can also enable us to have theoretical reflections on and verification of various complex issues in real life, in order to offer more reasonable and more comprehensive interpretations.In chapter three, the employment tradition under the unit system is discussed. At first, the origin, functions and effects of the unit system are respectively analyzed. It is held that the unit system has played a very important role in the elementary socialization for the new unemployment population. Especially, the unit inertness inherited from the older generation has a subtle effect on employment conception of their descendants, creating a fixed passive thinking pattern. Specifically speaking, for the young people raised under the unit system, unit awareness has taken root in their subconscious thinking and integrated into every aspect of their life. It is becoming a custom, or a"tradition", which makes it possible to identify themselves with the rest of the society and offer guidance for their smooth life.The tradition has resulted from the family background under the influence of the unit system, where their parents live and work. Whereas, in the process of middle and late socialization for the new unemployment population (NUP), great changed have taken place in the social environment and socially-advocated mainstream values. But the elementary socialization has a lifelong influence on them. The social security system of the units is chiefly targeted at the employees in the enterprises owned by the whole people and the personnel in the public service institutions. As a result, there has come the discrimination on the protection of rights and interests of social members inside and outside the unit. Also there has arisen the unbalance in the treatment of employees between different units. In turn, recessive social injustice has resulted. This social security system, to a certain extent, has exerted completely two opposite effects on the employment choices of the unit people's descendants. In the early period of socialization (the so-called elementary period), the younger generation born and grown up in the pan-units has developed values different from those raised outside the unit system, owing to their different family backgrounds. If their parents work in the unit system, their family background is apparently unit-oriented. Almost in every aspect of their life, they find themselves in the unit's care and protection. Almost on every occasion, they are able to enjoy the benefits of the units. Eventually, they become the so called"invisible unit people". Naturally, they develop the preliminary unit awareness in the process of early socialization.The established socialist market economic system has replaced the highly centralized planned economy system, making the unit system uprooted and collapsing. Social people have therefore been detached from the former units. Their management and services are no longer borne by the former units, but socially undertaken. Gradually, social people have taken the place of the unit people, becoming a social norm. With the diThe real life of the NUP is portrayed as a group of people with no knowledge, no techniques, and no"relationship", leading to their mobility"on the horizontal level". Only by looking for new opportunities and seeking new jobs, can they change their own position and social status, despite the fact that such efforts are nothing but vainly struggle. With the gradual disappearance of the unit system, the difficulties confronted by the northeast old industrial bases begin to display their typical and special features. Taking into consideration such factors as geographical relations and national macro- policies, their declining tendency is becoming more serious. Many enterprises are in the state of production suspension, semi-suspension, and even bankruptcy. There have appeared some serious resource-exhausted cities. And there is an increasing number of laid-off workers in the society. Although the transformation of the"typical unit system"has already started in the northeast old industrial bases, there will be a long and slow way to go before its termination, because the internal structure is rather unitary and it lacks competitive challenges from the non-unit system. The conspicuous feature of the typical unit system therefore has a profound effect on the mentality of the unit people's descendants.Chapter four is the focus of this research. With the gradual disappearance of the unit system, the NUP have been constantly put in the state of employment predicament. The following discussion is concentrated on the typical unit system and the special characteristics of the employment adaptability of the NUP in City C. It is believed that with the advent of the post-unit system, the protection provided by the unit to the individual employees has been a long past memory. They are forced to be involved in the market competition alone. For the NUP, employment is no longer a work unit in the traditional sense. With the changes in the enterprise management system and mode, a new conception of unit and employment has been formed. Such as relationship, diploma, money, household registration has always been playing a very important part in the northeastern workforce market. Due to the lack of the human capital and social capital, the NUP has to pour into the service-oriented market for employment seeking. As a consequence, they have to cover the immense urban living expenses with their relatively low income. When their income is not enough to pay off the price, they often choose to withdraw from the employment system. This offers an institutional explanation for the reason why there is an increasing number of the NUP and why they are initiatively unemployed.It is also believed in this article that the advent of post-unit society has an extensive and far-reaching influence on the employment adaptability of the NUP. Its main influence lies in the fact that it has uprooted the concept of lifelong secure job held by the work-unit beings. Under the pressure of survival, a growing number of the "unit beings" have been actively or passively involved in the various market activities, hence the importance of developing market awareness and guidance. In the process of social transformation of the northeast traditional industrial bases, the NUP is under influence of both work-unit system and market-oriented reform. On the one hand, they have been directly forced into the market competition, thus completely divorced from the social welfare granted by the former work-units. On the other hand, their habits developed in the old work-units have taken root in various aspects of their life, thus retaining the characteristics of"unit beings". Against this background, the NUP in the northeast old industrial bases is therefore put in an embarrassed state brought by the system changes.Chapter five is mainly to explore the internal and external mechanisms affecting the employment adaptability of the NUP. Included are the following four respects, cultural difficulty, social structural changes, restraints of the national policy and specialty of regional communities. They are mutually related, making up the whole angle for the analysis on employment adaptability of the NUP. The social structure in the northeast of China has the characteristics of"resource, transferability, intermittency, rupture", so its social transformation definitely presents a complex and tortuous process.The sixth chapter, the concluding part, focuses on the solution to employment adaptability of the new unemployment population. Many suggestions will be offered from the following different perspectives, such as those of urban non-official employment, development of medium and small enterprises, vocational education and training, and etc. In the northeast old industrial bases, the problem concerning the employment adaptability of the NUP has becoming more and more serious. The solutions are of great significance not only to the well-being of their family life, but also the social stability, prosperity and development of China.