Outgunned in job market (2)

The source within the armed police said, however, that during their time in the military, the average soldier is usually assigned tasks that don't require advanced skills, such as basic chores or sentry duty. In addition, they are essentially insulated in a military community with few links to the outside world, cutting off any opportunity to build contacts or develop qualifications.

There are policies that attempt to deal with this problem. Regulations on the Resettlement of Ex-Servicemen, revised in late 2011, specify that preferential treatment should be given to veterans during hiring, provided their qualifications are the same.

This may sound ideal, but it is of little help. These jobs, which are considered stable and well-paid, always attract many applicants, meaning that these former soldiers rarely have the slightest chance.

There are some jobs on offer, but the requirements are steep. According to the regulations, local governments can't provide jobs for veterans unless they have served in the army for no less than 12 years, have received second-class awards during peace-time service or third-class during a war, have specified kinds of disabilities or are the children of martyrs.

Having jumped through these hoops, many soldiers find themselves disappointed. "Even the jobs assigned to the urban veterans have not been satisfactory in recent years as they offer poor salaries and benefits," Peng told the Global Times.

Between 1987 and 2011, all former soldiers with urban hukou, or household registration permits, were guaranteed a job by the governments in the regions they came from, while those with rural hukou just returned to the land. The fact that this treatment no longer applies, coupled with the dim employment prospects for those leaving the military, has resulted in reduced numbers of young people signing up for military service, according to a previous Global Times report.

Even returning to the land isn't an easy prospect for former soldiers to contemplate. A sergeant surnamed Xing from Henan, who has been serving for seven years and plans to leave the army the next year, told the Global Times that in the rural area where he is from, each person receives just 0.7 mu (470 square meters) of land.

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