Stewed goose exam stampede a sign of surging interest in work skills

Geese in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, had every right to be nervous after financial incentives prompted more than 50,000 residents to register for a "stewed goose" skills examination by late last month.

The stewed goose stampede started after an anonymous post on the Sina Weibo social media platform went viral last month. It claimed it was easy to learn how to stew a goose, with a complete novice being able to master the skill in a couple of days, and said over 97 percent of applicants had previously passed the exam and qualified for allowances of 1,700 yuan ($267).

The city's human resources and social security bureau, which organized the exam, had to suspend registrations by 5 pm on Nov 25 due to the flood of applications. It has since said the exam was held earlier this month.

"I thought it was a joke after my friend told me about the news, but I－a 'know-nothing' cook－have joined several chat groups on WeChat, where dozens of people have shared their experience in stewing goose," said 29-year-old Shenzhen resident Li Le.

He said that even though the bureau had closed the registration channel due to the surge in applications, it had showed people that the country is making great efforts to encourage people to learn skills by giving them financial incentives.

The Guangdong Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department said goose stewing was one of the skills included in a skills improvement campaign launched by the provincial government in 2018, aiming to encourage residents to learn a work skill and make it easier for them to land a job.

Guangdong is not alone. In the past few years, a number of provinces and regions have launched campaigns to support training in work skills, as well as skills assessments, to invigorate the job market.

For example, the Tianjin Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau published an assessment standard for those making jianbing guozi, a kind of stuffed pancake. Candidates are required to make them by following a standardized procedure in order to qualify for a certificate.

China has made great efforts to improve workers' skills, help key groups including migrant workers, college graduates and demobilized military personnel land jobs, and make the nation's economic development more vigorous and innovative.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) on work skills training late last month. It aims to train over 3.6 million vocational students and over 2 million highly skilled workers by the end of 2025. About 20 million company employees and people from the key groups will receive work skills training.

The plan was reviewed and approved at the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Dec 1, which decided to speed up efforts to train more high-quality talent with technical skills. Over 30 million migrant workers will receive skills training by the end of 2025.

"There is no lowliness or nobility inherent in a work skill," said 49-year-old He Qiaomei, the owner of a breakfast store in Beijing's Chaoyang district. "As long as a person makes up his or her mind to learn the skill and master it, and can finally earn money by using the skill, it's an honor."

She said she registered for an online training course on making dim sum in September.

"I used to make soy milk and youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks) for sale, but now I can also make some special dim sum for my customers," she said. "It's progress and I'm very happy to learn these skills."

She said she may register for other training courses in the future.

"I love cooking, so why not learn more professional skills and make more delicious food for my customers," she said. "Skills are money for us ordinary people."