The Pudong government and Pudong Public Transport firm join hands to lure younger drivers. (Photo : Reuters)
Pudong Public Transport, one of the city's largest bus firms, eyes to raise the annual salary of its drivers to 90,000 yuan next year in a bid to attract more recruits.
The company has been intensifying its efforts to lure younger employees as they face shortage of drivers and an aging workforce.
In cooperation with the Pudong New Area government, the transport company will provide those qualified applicants under 30 years old with at most 2,222 yuan worth of allowance during their training program.
Bus drivers have an average taxable income of 82,000 a year. The tax has also risen for three consecutive years, with a hike of around 8,000 yuan per year.
The firm also recently held a job fair, which gathered around 50 applicants who are mostly around the age of 30.
"There won't be much difference in salary between drivers who have worked for 10 years and the newly recruited ones," Yanggao Bus human resources manager Dong Xiaowei said. The firm is part of the Pudong Public Transport.
Asked about public vehicle driving as a career, Zhang Tianyuan, a 21-year-old Pudong resident, said: "The pay is very attractive and the job is more stable."
Zhang, who previously earned around 40,000 yuan a year from working at a cinema and a factory, said that he was rather surprised with the pay bus drivers receive. He said that the 82,000-yuan figure is "much beyond [his] expectations."
Meanwhile, the company has also lowered the threshold in terms of what kind of license a driver has to attract more applicants. Now, jobseekers who have a low-grade license, and even those who do not yet have a driving license, can also be considered as candidates.
Three years ago, the transport firm only recruited applicants with A1 or A3 driving license.
