Ups and downs of social workers喜忧参半的“社工”生活导读：如今，许多年轻人纷纷选择加入社工(social worker)行列，在获取宝贵基层工作经验的同时，还能造福社会。然而，社工的工作待遇和职业前景如何呢？
Li Siting, 25, has visited an elderly hospital patient for two weeks to try to persuade him to agree to surgery for lung cancer.
25岁的李思婷（音译）近两周经常去医院看望一位住院的老人，并试着说服他接受肺癌手术。 She’s not a relative but a social worker in Nanshan Hospital in Shenzhen. Her job is to assist doctors to communicate with patients and their relatives. Li, who graduated from Shenzhen University, has worked in the hospital for two years. “Some patients become very afraid when diagnosed with cancer, and their family members did not know what to do,” she explained. “I help to rebuild their self-confidence.” Recently, there has been a boost in social work applicants. According to statistics from the recruitment website of social workers in Beijing in April, 460,000 candidates competed for this year’s 1,000 positions - much higher than the 13:1 civil servant recruitment ratio. The surge was caused by a low entry threshold. Any local person in Beijing with a junior college degree or above and any non-local with a college degree could apply this year. The possibility of getting a Beijing hukou in two years appeals to students. Grassroot work experience can also help them apply to be civil servants. It might be surprising to learn that Shenzhen, the first mainland city to have a social worker system, is facing a decline in social work candidates. In 2008, Shenzhen attracted 3,961 applicants, but that number gradually decreased to 2,548 in 2010. A survey by the Shenzhen Social Workers Association last year showed that 90 percent of Shenzhen’s social workers held a bachelor’s degree. But 28.7 percent of them quit within a year because of poor pay and disappointing career prospects Huang Yuanhua, 26, worked as a social worker in Ailian community in Longgang district in Shenzhen for three years. Her monthly salary of 3,000 yuan barely covered living expenses. “We social workers are like children without a mother. We couldn’t get our pay on time and there are no assessment standards, let alone promotion.” Overtime and stress are another burden. “I had to deal with trivial things like a woman quarreling with her son over their dinner menu. Moms asked me to look after their children on weekends,” she said. Social workers regularly take care of senior citizens and organize events for teenagers. Many events are at weekends, but often they get no extra pay. However, some social workers think they’ve learned a lot. “I become more patient and careful, and good at communicating,” said Huang, who now works as a marketing manager in IT. Qualified social workers are valued. Shenzhen plans to build 100 community service centers and to create 500 new jobs for social workers. According to Luo Bing of the Shenzhen Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, the city will have 6,000 social workers serving communities, enterprises and social institutions. “The brain drain has become serious, and social workers’ conditions should be improved,” Luo said. To retain talent, they intend to enhance the salary of social worker to 4,700 yuan per month from May. Senior social workers could earn 8,000 yuan. “We’re looking at a set of assessment standards for social workers and encourage them to take professional examinations to win promotion.” |
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