TAIPEI (TVBS News) — As many job seekers in Taiwan need to deal with psychological and financial stress amid job search, a survey revealed that up to 70.9% of recent graduates experienced mental pressure from family members, and 94.9% underwent financial pressure before landing a job successfully.
Another "Jobless Pain Index," surveying fresh graduates born between 2000 and 2010, stood at 76.5, higher than last year's 75.5, marking a ten-year high.
Yang Tsun-pin, a spokesperson from a job-search website, said, "Parents and elders tend to pay more attention to their children's job search as the birthrate is decreasing."
"Impacts due to inflation in recent years also cause extra burden to those job seekers living in a different place, as they need to pay for rent and food," Yang added.
Another statistic from a local job search company indicated that, as of August this year, 47.9% of fresh graduates have not found any full-time position. They need to submit 18.6 applications on average to get an interview. They will only secure a full-time role once they have been interviewing for close to six companies.
Though the post-pandemic labor market posed more chances, many recent graduates seek to obtain certificates or learn additional skills to improve their hiring chances.
The same data also proved that 66.2% of the surveyed have professional licenses or language proficiency certificates when they search for a full-time position. Meanwhile, nearly 80% of recent graduates are willing to spend money on vocational training, with an average budget of NT＄14,599.
Stressing the importance of earning professional licenses as a practical strategy for self-improvement, Tseng Chung-wei, a public relations manager at a local job bank, also touched on the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI), saying, "We recommend those who graduated from non-science and engineering majors to increase their salary to learn some AI-related skills."
Experts advised job seekers that the best way to shorten the unemployment period is to invest in themselves and acquire new skills to become more competitive in the job market.