ABSTRACT
With the growth of higher education, the advent of a post-industrial economy, and the absence of new jobs (Huang 2005), the unemployment rate of post-secondary graduates is rising. In 1993, the unemployment rate for this group was only 2.07%, and the average number of weeks of unemployment was 16.89. Surveys conducted by the Labour Affairs Council in 2000 and 2012 show that the unemployment rate for those with at least a college education was 2.68% in 2000 and 5.38% in 2012, and the average number of weeks of unemployment were 23.96 and 27.31, respectively. It is clear that the situation for post-secondary graduates has become more difficult. In addition, the actual purchasing power of the starting salary of university graduates decreased from NT$ 29,115 in 2000 to NT$ 24,842 in 2011 (‘The first time’ 2013). In other words, the transition from school to the workforce has become more difficult and fragmentary: there are often long phases of unemployment. The problems with the transition can lead to other concerns, such as long-term unemployment, insufficient pay, etc.
