BEIJING, March 1(Xinhuanet)-- Spring is always the time of college graduates pressing for new jobs, but Dong Caiyun, in charge of human resources from Wanbei Coal-electricity Corporationis still afraid of brain drain in her company.

"We planned to hire 50 graduates majoring in coal mining last year and got only 4," said Cao."We are going to hunt for 90 college graduates this year and how to accomplish this target makes me anxious."

Statistics from the China Coal Industry Association show that among 10,000 graduates majoring in coal mining every year, only 800 chose to work in the harsh coal mines.

"The coal industry is facing a severe shortage of professionals, especially safety technicians," said Zhang Hongwei, vice president with the college of resource and environmental engineering from Liaoning Technical University.

In central China's Henan Province, one of the country's main coal bases, coal mining industry has not acquired even one college graduate majoring in coal mining since 1998.

Meanwhile, the province lost as many as 2,200 engineering technicians from the coal industry.
"It will be a disaster for the country's coal industry if the talent shortage continues," acknowledged Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety(SAWS).

Industry insiders said that low salaries, harsh working and living conditions and the decreasing number of universities which provide professional coal mining education are the main reasons for the lack of professionals in China's coal industry.

In recent years, the average income of coal mine workers has been lower than those of other industries, which makes young and middle-aged engineering technicians shun the profession.

More than 70 percent of China's coal mines are located in the arid middle and western regions with worse working and living conditions and it is known to all that coal mining is hazardous and risky.

Another reason for the lack of expertise is that many Chinese colleges have stopped offering mining-related majors due to a paucity of interest.

China had 2,500 mining graduates in 1998, a number that dropped to 1,250 in 2000, according to Lu Dexin, vice chairman of China Coal Industry Association.

Facing the severe shortage of professionals, Chinese coal corporations are making efforts. According to Ge Jiade, chairman of Wanbei Coal-electricity Corporation, his company has taken steps to attract talent by creating a safe working environment, improving workers' salaries and holding professional training.
"But the situation is still not good," said Dong Caiyun.

She said that her company put out jobs advertisements in five colleges and universities in October last year, but only 12 graduates have delivered applications.

(2006-03-01 06:26:18 Xinhua English)