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BEIJING: Major companies sometimes offer a starting bonus to recruit highly experienced persons at the senior management level. China's People'S Liberation Army has now gone several steps ahead of commercial corporations by offering starting bonus to fresh graduates.
PLA is now offering up to 24,000 yuan ($3,500) to each graduate joining military service at the point of entry besides the usual salary and perks. The money is being described as reimbursement for college education expenses or assistance to pay off educational loans that some students may have taken.
The military is also promising to curb corruption at recruitment centers and offer special incentives for female graduates. It has extended the maximum age of entry for female graduates by two years to 24.
Fast paced industrial development has made it difficult for the PLA to attract talent in the face of high-paying commercial organizations. Though one-third of the fresh graduates struggle to find employment, there is a strong reluctance among the bright students to opt for military service.
The military brass is also trying to curb corruption at the recruitment centers, which keeps away many good candidates. The PLA Daily recently quoted military authorities asking lower officials not to use their influence to interfere in the draft process. The local media is also highlighting complaints made over the Internet about officials connected to Conscription Offices charging between 50,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan to ensure a job.
A recruitment official in Xunxian in Hubei Province, was indicted earlier this year for taking 55,000 yuan as bribes from 20 young men, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
Graduates are also being lured with the promise of higher education at military academies. Military jobs have been made flexible allowing graduate recruits to opt out of military service and choosing to go for police or other law enforcement duties after completing two compulsory years of service.
Xu Qiliang, the current commander of the PLA Air Force, recently said that the Air Force is creating a large back-up force with young graduates.
In an effort to woo more well-educated recruits, female graduates are entitled to preferential standards for the first time. For instance, the maximum age for female recruits with four-year college education or higher has been lifted from 22 to 24, while the limit for female graduates with a three-year education was raised from 21 to 23.
(SOURCE : TIMES OF INDIA)
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