More than 31 percent of women have faced gender discrimination while job hunting, a recent survey of 1,600 people by Shanghai Women's Federation shows.

The survey also found 70 percent of women are unhappy with re-employment projects in the city, saying they didn't help at all. And nearly 10 percent of women who lost their jobs want to find work as a domestic worker.

Among the interviewees, 41 percent of women are unemployed. They said increasing age and the lack of skills were the greatest hindrance to finding a job.

Yet 66 percent of those surveyed said they are more likely to hire a local woman as a domestic helper rather than a woman from outside the city, indicating a huge market demand.

Meanwhile, more than 96 percent of women interviewed thought they had good skills in housework and 62 percent had some basic knowledge of nursing.

Shanghai Women's Federation said it will offer more training to women to help them find a job. The federation also encourages women, either those laid off or university graduates, to start their own business. It has recently issued 200,000 yuan (US$27,027) in awards to some women to help start their businesses.

(Shanghai Daily December 3, 2007)